We Dogs of War
by stellarserenity
Summary: A year after the events of Sozin's comet, the Fire Nation descends into civil conflict. Our heroes must face the decisions they made that day as they fight for what they believe, with peace, friendships and their very lives on the line
1. Chapter 1

It was one year, four months, and one day before civil war erupted in the Fire Nation.

But the signs had been present long before that this was not the happily ever after everyone had hoped for.

The first sign was in fact a lot of small, and not entirely unexpected, problems. There were Fire Nation colonists in the Earth Kingdom who had been born and had lived their entire lives there. They were in no hurry to return to an island nation they had never seen. But return they must, for Earth Kingdom refugees were flocking back to their villages and their homes, reopening stalls and markets, and resuming life as usual.

There were no mean number of altercations all of which required the Avatar's personal attention and all of which seemed to end the same way; disenchanted Fire Nation citizens, mistrustful of the Earth King's offers of hospitality and citizenship, making their weary way 'home.'

The second and third signs were of a far more personal nature.

Sokka, on his first post-war visit to Suki and Kyoshi Island, found himself the unwilling object of attention to a certain acrobat who had difficulty abiding group identity and the responsibilities of a uniform. The details were never really explained; but when all was said and done Ty Lee and Sokka departed Kyoshi Island in opposite directions, unlikely to return.

Toph was next. Tired of being the third wheel and after one of the trio's lengthier visits to the Fire Nation capitol, she chose to remain behind. She found a fast friend in Ty Lee and together they made it their mission to disrupt the Fire Nation court and sunder Mai's porcelain composure with under-toned remarks. It was during just such an endeavour that Toph received some entirely unexpected visitors.

It was equinox and, despite rice shortages and the ever-rising cost of meat, the equinox festival went ahead as planned. Toph was tilting on her chair, twirling a chicken-pork dumpling on her chopstick. She did not need to have her feet on the ground to know that the comment she had just made about Zuko had made Mai's heart race. Ty Lee was giggling into her cup.

'Toph?'

Toph almost lost her balance but managed to regain her feet as her chair clattered to the floor. Heads turned at the noise.

'Mom… Dad…'

A hush seemed to have fallen over the room. What sounds there were came to Toph as though through a curtain. Only her parents, their breathing, their heartbeats, were clear.

'Sweetheart, we-,' her mother did not get to finish.

Toph flew at them, vaulting the table and throwing one arm around each of their necks. She grinned at the strangled noises they made and the indignity of the pose; they'd deal with it.

However when she released them, they seemed reluctant to do the same.

What followed was a series of tense conversations which quickly became heated. Glad as they were for their daughter's apparent health and good grooming in their absence, the Bei Fongs still wanted their child home. She still stoutly refused to go.

In the end they reached a compromise: She would return to Ba Sing Se with Iroh so that they might visit her more easily and she would inform her parents when she intended to travel and where. So it was that with the end of the equinox festival, she left the Fire Nation behind.

And with little time to spare. In the ten months since the war had ended, the Fire Nation's population doubled and their food supplies shrank. Taxes on the aristocracy rose as Fire Lord Zuko tried to purchase legally what his people had once taken as the dues of war. Housing became scarce and shanty towns sprang up on the outskirts of every major city. Beggars became common place in every village. The great munitions factories, which had provided so many jobs for over a hundred years, were closed, leaving hundreds out of work and with no skills with which to earn their next meal. Even in the closed city of the capitol there were mutterings of discontent as the aristocracy lost their factories and their colonial assets, and their relatives, governors and generals long stationed in foreign lands, returned home empty-handed.

And all the while they whispered: They would have had Azula as Fire Lord; Ozai would have won the war; their prosperity would have been assured, had not Fire Lord Zuko joined the Avatar.

It was barely six months after Toph's departure that Aang and Katara, now travelling alone, realised they were having difficulties of their own. That which had been strong under threat of war seemed less and less stable once they were no longer running for their lives. They fought often, frequently over how best to handle others' disagreements. As tensions heightened the world over, Katara found herself more and more irked by Aang's casual attitude towards his ever-mounting duties. Aang, for his part, found himself more and more pressured by Katara and her constant efforts at motivation. And as time wore on, they found themselves seeking more and more time apart.

It was after one such separation – after flying off the handle and off a cliff – that Aang returned to a half-heartedly prepared dinner and a confrontation.

'I need to talk to you.' He stood behind her as she leant over a pot of soup.

She turned on her knees and looked up at him, wide-eyed and blank-faced. Her eyes betrayed just a hint of puffiness, the irises turned eerie in the last light of dusk.

'I know.'

'About us.'

'Me too.'

He opened his mouth as though to speak, closed it again, firmed his jaw and nodded once, 'You go first.'

Instantly she was reminded of that moment, more than a year ago now, when warm dry lips had pressed hurriedly against hers for the very first time, and then lifted just as abruptly as he leapt for the skies. She blanched and looked aside.

'This isn't working, just the two of us,' she hesitated, the corners of her mouth turning down as she tried to find the right words. She was tired of fighting him and tired of seeing his face fall every time she said the wrong thing, 'I thought-… when the war ended-… in Ba Sing Se – I thought this was what I wanted. But…' She faltered and looked away.

'You don't love me.'

'No! No, that's not it. I do love you.'

'You say that, but you never want to spend time together!' His voice came out harsher than he intended it to be and he tried to calm himself, all too aware of the tears slowly gathering at the corners of her eyes, 'When you kissed me… And you said we'd be together. I thought things would change. I thought we'd be different. But you still treat me the same, just like you treat everyone else. You still treat me like I'm the little brother you have to take care of!' He turned away, unable to look at her face any more. The anger was returning and he willed it away with clenched fists, 'Always nagging me about what's next. I thought you'd want to take some time out just for us, so we could have fun together. Like we used to.'

When he turned back, she was gaping.

'Well I'm sorry if there was work to be done and you were too busy having fun to help me with it! _Someone's_ got to look after us, Aang and if it's not going to be you than it _has_ to be me. And as for fun… I _can_ have fun, Aang. And I wanted to have some time for us too. But I _can't_ walk away from people who need my help – people who need _your_ help – just so I can go and goof off for a while!' She had got to her feet, her fists clenched around her skirt and tears falling freely. Aang felt cold guilt twist his middle.

'Wars don't just fix themselves. There's still a lot of work to be done and you're the only one who can do it. Things don't just change over night… And neither do feelings.'

'What do you mean?'

'I'm sorry, Aang. I still love you, so much. But… I'm just not in love with you.'

'Oh.' He expected sadness. He expected that uncomfortable prickling feeling behind his eyes and at the back of his throat. He expected anger to tense in his chest. Instead, all the tension seemed to flow out of him in a single deep breath as though he had been holding it in for a very long time.

'We can still travel together if you want, but I think we should stop being a couple for a while.'

'No, it's ok. You should go home. Your family's probably missing you.'

'You're part of my family, Aang. And you always will be.' She reached out to take his hand but then dropped her own hand back as though she had thought better of it.

Aang hung his head. In truth he did not know how he was feeling. Shouldn't he feel crushed or disappointed? But no, instead there was a strange lightness in his chest.

Katara had turned back to the soup pot and begun ladling out the soup. With a sigh, Aang took his seat. They ate the meal in relative silence, speaking only occasionally to wonder if this or that aspect of the southern tribe would still be the same.

They were not, in fact. As the icy hills came in to view over the horizon, Katara found herself pressing forward on Appa's back, trying to catch a first glimpse of her home even as she told herself it was useless. They were too far away. She'd never see from this distance.

And then she saw. A glittering wall had been raised. It shone an eerie blue in the late autumn dawn and beyond it were igloos, igloos and houses. She could not keep from exclaiming, 'Oh!'

'Wow. They're really fixed up the place.' Aang chuckled as Appa drew closer.

'Is that a Fire Nation ship in the harbour?!' She leant dangerously far over the front of Appa's saddle and pointed.

'Don't you mean "Is that a harbour?"?'

She shot him a glare by way of reply and he grinned right back at her. The look faded quickly, however, to be replaced by a slight frown. His own expression was mirrored on Katara's face.

The time they had spent travelling to the South Pole had been almost surreal; carefree moments like those they had shared early in their travels were halted by abrupt awkwardness as they both remembered what had transpired between them. They were no longer a couple, and this may well be the last time they travelled together.

All in all, Aang was glad for the distraction the reconstructed village provided. In moments the silence was broken. Katara was leaning back over Appa's saddle and pointing again.

'Look! It's just like when I was little!'

Looking down, Aang saw a sprawl of closely-set igloos. Some of them were connected by curved passageways. Others seemed to stand alone. It was difficult to tell where one house began and another ended, as they seemed to observe no roads but one; a wide boulevard led from what were clearly a set of carved-ice gates, now closed, to a cleared circle of snow in the very centre of the village, just before an enormous domed hall of ice.

People were streaming into this circle now. They gathered around what Aang now saw was a large bonfire pit. He circled Appa once around the large ice hall and then brought him in to land in what was apparently the town square.

The crowd pressed in on them. Some of the bolder children ran forward to pet Appa's fur. The rest of the villagers hung back, waving, cheering, and chattering, and at their forefront stood a familiar figure. His shoulders were broader and his hair longer than when they had last seen him, but his grin was exactly the same. As soon as Appa's feet touched the ground, Katara launched herself into his arms.

'Sokka!'

'Easy there, Katara,' he laughed. 'You wanna crush me in front of our tribe?'

Katara released him and glared, her hands on her hips. 'Did you just call me fat?!'

'No! No!' He raised his hands in a half-defensive, half-placating gesture, 'Although now you mention it, your cooking could use a little more meat and a little less oil.'

'Urgh!' with a single waving motion, she bent snow into his face, effectively stifling his laughter. 'I can't _believe_ I missed you!'

While Sokka spluttered and rubbed snow out of his face with his parka sleeve, Katara surveyed the crowd before her. Here and there she thought she saw faces she recognised amongst the women and children, but she couldn't be certain, and all of the men were strangers. One thing she was certain of, however; the two faces she longed for most were absent.

'That cannot be my little waterbender.'

Katara turned. Her face was more lined, her posture more stooped, but the same blue eyes – a feature Katara shared – shone out of Gran Gran Kanna's face as a smile crinkled her features. She opened her arms and Katara hugged her tightly.

'How I have missed you.'

'I've missed you too, Gran-Gran.'

By the time they were done, Sokka had occupied himself introducing Aang to all who were present and regaling them with a story about a run in with some pirates. When he saw Katara watching them, Sokka's grin broadened.

'That'll have to wait til another time folks. I've got a tour to lead.' And puffing his chest out, Sokka strode toward her. He threw one arm over Aang's shoulders and one arm around hers and leaned in conspiratorially. 'So, what do you want to see first? I know! My watch tower!'

The tour was long and consisted mostly of Sokka rattling off the names of people who lived in each house as they passed by. Some names Katara recognised. Others she didn't. Sokka seemed to know them all, and what each of their roles was within the tribe. There was always a gaggle of people following behind them, talking amongst themselves and sneaking furtive looks at Aang, Sokka or herself. But it wasn't always the same people.

'-And this is where Nauja lives and next to her is Qaminiq and that's Gran-Gran's and Pakku's house and this…!' he paused before a small igloo with a much larger igloo attached to its side, 'Is our house! Come on, lemme show you around!'

He pushed aside the hide-and-fur curtains hanging in the entryway and Katara followed him through to a small living area. The floor was covered in thick, luscious white furs. Pottery cookware and weapons were neatly stacked off to one side. Katara could see an ice box, food just visible inside. The walls too were curtained in hide and fur. Katara felt her eyes widening.

'Through here's where Dad sleeps,' Katara peeked through an archway into the larger attached room. The floor here was covered in piles of pelts. Clothes, pots of war paint and other knick-knacks were gathered neatly in the corner. 'You'll notice the tunnels leading off it. Those go to my room and your room and Aang's room.'

'Why do I need a room?' At the sound of Aang's voice, Katara tensed. He had been unusually quiet since the start of the tour.

'For when you stop by!'

'Uh, Sokka? I probably won't be stopping by.'

'What? Why?' Sokka's jovial manner seemed to fall. Katara could not turn to face either of them.

'We haven't had time to tell you yet… Katara and I broke up.'

'Oh. Bummer.'

'But that doesn't mean you can't stop by.' Katara said, turning her head slowly so that she could see Aang's face.

Silence greeted her. Aang was shifting uncomfortably and avoiding her gaze.

'Well, you're better off without her, buddy,' Sokka's voice cut through the growing awkwardness, 'Take it from someone who's known her her whole life; Katara is a pain!'

'Sokka!' Katara rounded on him just as Sokka threw his arm around Aang's shoulders, a grin stretched from ear to ear, 'I'm standing _right. Here._'

Sokka just shrugged, 'Bathroom's down that way. And over here,' Sokka tugged Aang by the arm to the other side of the igloo.

'Sokka, this leads under ground.' they stopped. Katara came up behind them and stared down the dark, sloping passage.

'Yup! Are you coming?' Without waiting, Sokka started down the passage.

Katara rolled her eyes and with a final glance at her new home, she followed the two boys down the passage.

It was not long, but it was dark. The walls and floor were roughly textured which effectively stopped them slipping on the ice. The passage had barely stopped sloping down before it begun sloping up gain and soon Katara could see warm light filtering through the other end.

They emerged into what could only be the town hall. Katara noticed several other passageways leading off both the far and near walls. Here too, the floor was covered in a carpet of furs, and circles of cushions surrounded unlit oil lamps. She felt as though she did not know where she ought to be looking. Thankfully, a moment later the decision was made for her.

A flicker of movement caught her eye. Looking toward the back of the hall, she saw a flight of ice steps. Coming down them was a man whose topknot and red cloak clearly identified him as Fire Nation. He could only be from the ship in the harbour.

Word seemed to have spread that they had made their way to the town hall, for the crowd that had departed once they entered their house was now filtering in. The Fire Nation captain paid them no mind and passed through the hall without a look to either side. Katara watched him until he disappeared through the entry flap.

'Uh… I'll just go check if Dad's free. Wait here.' Sokka darted away and up the stairs before they could respond.

Katara stood in silence for a moment, trying to avoid making eye contact with the ever-growing number of people sending furtive looks her way. But that left her with only one person to look at: Aang. And he was steadfastly avoiding her gaze once more.

'What do you suppose the fire navy could be doing here?'

'What? Oh. I don't know,' Aang reached round and scratched the back of his head, and then met her gaze. His eyes widened, 'Don't worry, Katara. If there's a problem, I'm sure your dad can handle it. And if he can't, well… The Avatar's here.'

'Aang, about…'

'Dad says come up guys!' Sokka was bent down so that he could peer at them without descending the stairs more than necessary. With a sigh and a roll of her eyes, Katara made her way over and began to climb to the second level of the building.

This too was only one room, and much smaller than the first. It was domed and decorated much the same as the rest of the village had been. But on the far side of the room from the stairway, a low slab of stone sat propped up to form a low desk. Katara stared. Behind it, seated on a cushion, sat her father. He seemed to be poring over some scrolls and hadn't noticed her yet. Sokka gave a very fake cough. Hakoda looked up.

'Katara.' He smiled and stood, opening his arms wide. Katara rounded the desk and fell into his embrace, a smile claiming her own face.

'It's good to have you home. And good to see you again too, Avatar,' Hakoda released Katara and offered his hand to Aang, who stepped forward. The older man clasped the younger's forearm for a moment and then released him too. He surveyed them both.

'You should know that with you home, our population has risen to one hundred and eighteen.'

Katara took a moment to realise she was gaping, 'How?'

'Well with our warriors returned home and the migration from the north, a population boost is to be expected. There have also been quite a few babies born throughout spring and summer, and then there's the reconstruction crew Fire Lord Zuko sent-,'

'The what?' Katara found she was gaping again and snapped her mouth shut.

'Don't look so worried, Katara. They're all non-benders. Most of them only last three months before heading home, but some of them have decided to stay on permanently and have become part of the Tribe. It's taken some getting used to.'

'I think it's great that your tribe's been able to put aside the war so quickly.' Aang said.

'Not so quickly. It's been over a year, Avatar. A lot has changed.'

'Yeah, we noticed.' Aang chuckled.

'You've done a great job with the village, Dad, it looks fantastic.' Katara could feel something swelling inside her, as though laughter had lodged itself in her chest and left her perpetually smiling.

'Oh most of that wasn't me. Master Pakku organised most of the labour. Everyone helped, but the benders and the Fire Nation reconstruction crew did most of the work. And your brother was in charge of the design. He's proved himself a regular town planner. You've seen the tunnels. Those were his idea.'

Katara turned her head to see her brother beaming.

'They're not finished yet,' he said. 'There's still work to do. We hope to get them insulated before the winter and build enough that we don't have to go outdoors too much.'

'Sounds like a great idea.' Aang said.

'So is that why the navy ship's here, Dad? For the reconstruction crew?'

'Oh no. That's a trade ship picking up our excess produce.' Hakoda answered.

'Excess produce?'

'Oh yes. We had a very good harvest of kelp and sea prunes this year, and the Fire Nation will take any seal blubber we can spare. In return they give us clay or cloth, and other things. And they brought a letter from Fire Lord Zuko. I was just reading it when you arrived.'

'How is Zuko doing?' Aang asked.

'Not well, or at least not as well as we are.'

'The Fire Nation has had it easy for over a hundred years,' Sokka said, 'It's no wonder they've started complaining now things are balancing out.'

'I think it's a little more than just complaining, Sokka. The Fire Lord obviously won't tell me everything, but the way they're buying up our food supplies, it looks like there's serious trouble. I should respond before the ship leaves and let the Fire Lord know you're here, Avatar.'

'If things are as bad as all that, maybe I should go help Zuko out.' Aang said.

'What?!' for a moment, Sokka looked stricken, 'After I just spent all week planning a festival in your honour?' His eyes narrowed, 'Oh no buddy, you're staying right here!' And he poked Aang in the chest playfully. Katara giggled.

'But Zuko-,' Aang protested.

'Can write if he needs you. Besides, you know he'll just get all defensive and proud if you show up to help when he hasn't asked.'

It was Aang's turn to chuckle, 'Hehe, yeah.'

'C'mon buddy. Let's go introduce you to your adoring public so they're done fawning over you by the feast tonight.'

Katara rolled her eyes as Sokka threw his arm back over Aang's shoulder, and guided him toward the stairs. She started to follow them, but as they disappeared down, a hand fell on her upper arm.

'Katara.'

She turned to see a serious look on her father's face.

'What is it?'

'Sokka told me what happened between you and the Avatar,' His gaze softened, but Katara felt her eyes widen all the same, 'Are you alright?'

'I'm fine. I'm more worried about Aang. When we were talking, he didn't tell me how _he_ was feeling. But I don't know how to talk to him about it now.'

'Sokka will get it out of him one way or another. Don't worry about it. And if you need to talk-,'

'Yeah. I should probably catch up to them.'

'OK.' He released her, and she began heading once again for the door.

'And Sweetheart?'

She paused again and threw a look over her shoulder.

'Welcome home.'

She smiled and followed her brother and best friend down into the waiting throng.

_______________

Zuko slammed the door that separated his private quarters from the rest of the palace. From the couch where she had been lounging, Mai looked up. A senbon was poised between her fingers as though she had been about to throw it. A servant stood at the edge of the couch, ashen faced as he held a cork board before him. Several of the needles were already embedded in it.

'Someone's had a great day.' Mai flicked the dart and it vanished back to wherever she kept them. Her gaze had shifted back to her target.

Zuko huffed out a breath. He turned away from her and pulled the crown piece from his topknot.

'Must have been you then. I spent all listening to people do everything _but_ tell me that my people are starving because _I_ was too generous in the peace settlement!' A few practised tugs and his hair fell loose about his shoulders.

'I'm sure it's just you. Give me a few minutes and I'll go tell them they're wrong.'

'This isn't funny, Mai.' He turned back to face her, just in time to see her hurl another senbon at the target. The servant cringed behind his cork board as the needle hit. Zuko's eyes widened slightly.

'You are dismissed.' He waved a hand at the man, and in an instant he was snapping into a bow and scuttling from the room. Zuko only just caught the grateful look on his face before turning back to face Mai's now-slightly-frowning visage.

'Don't take your anger out on me, Zuko.'

'I take barbs from people all day. If you're not going to bother showing up to court, you could at least try to be a little more supportive.'

'Only when I actually support you.'

Zuko stood stunned for a moment.

'Is that what this is about? Is that why you're acting this way?'

She huffed a sigh, 'I'm not the one who came storming in here and started shouting.'

'You don't support me any more than they do!' He gestured wildly at the door.

'We've been over this. I've told you what I think,' she rolled her head back to rest on the arm of the couch, showing him her profile as she swept her gaze to the ceiling. 'What more do you want from me?'

'I want you to understand!' He started toward her.

'Shouting at me won't make me understand any more than it will make them.'

'Well then what am I supposed to do?!' He threw his arms in the air and stalked around the couch toward his study. Half way there he whirled back to face her.

His glare was met by her champagne gaze. Her perfectly porcelain expression was the only answer he received.

His eyes widened, 'No!'

'It's the only way, Zuko.'

'It's not! And I'm not doing it! Stop _looking_ at me like that!' smoke hissed from his nostrils. Immediately her gaze hardened into a glare. Zuko snapped his mouth shut and inclined his head to avoid looking at her.

'Are you done?' Her words were hard and cold.

'I-…'

'Just because you have the same argument with your courtiers every day, Zuko, does not mean I have to have the same argument with you.'

'I-… I know,' he took a step back and his calf bumped against a low table. He sat abruptly, 'I'm sorry,'

He propped his elbows on his knees and rested his forehead on his palms, his fingers running through his hair, 'I just don't know what to do.'

He did not look up as the couch creaked. A moment later, Mai's hand brushed his cheek. He had not heard her approach. He never heard her approach.

She turned his face up toward her and bent down to place a single chaste kiss on the corner of his mouth before straightening up. He placed his hand over hers and continued to grip it as it fell away from his face. She stared down at him.

'The world's not going to fall apart if you don't solve every problem today, Zuko.'

His brow creased. 'You're right,' he said aloud. But he could not stop a scowl overtaking his features.

'Now when's dinner? I'm hungry.' Mai spoke about his head, and by the rustling in the background, he knew that servants were already flitting in and out of the room, responding to her words.

Dinner was a quiet affair. They passed on the formal dining hall and took it in his rooms that evening. Neither of them spoke of the days' affairs or their disagreement. They talked instead of Ty Lee's antics in court that day, and the letter he had received from Ba Sing Se. But Zuko could not dislodge the lingering worry from his mind. It pressed on him as he lay awake later that night, staring at the canopy of his bed. And when at last sleep took him, it was fitful at best, as though his troubles chased him through his dreams.

He awoke to a bang and a shout. Even over a year after his ascension, the experience of what a sudden waking meant in a warzone had him out of bed and in a low bending stance before his mind had even truly registered what it was that had woken him.

'My Lord! My apologies!'

Zuko rose from behind the bed and saw that the man now bowed before him was one of his scribes. The man was gabbling away, even as he pressed his forehead to the floor in contrition. Zuko's sleep-addled mind took a moment to catch the thread of what he was saying.

'-people flooding the streets, my Lord! Not just the soldiers or the unemployed, everyone! The whole lower city is on strike, and they march up the mountain towards the Capitol as we speak. The city guard is in chaos. No idea what to do. Some of them have even deserted and gone down the mountain to the strike-,'

Zuko gaped.

'How-…?' But the scribe had not paused.

'They demand rice, my Lord. They're all shouting for rice. As they expect us to produce a paddy field and hand it to them. And every hour it gets more organised. It began at dawn in the shanty town and instead of going to work, people have simply joined the crowd-,'

'Began at dawn?! What time is it?!' Zuko ignored Mai's groan from the bed behind him at his shout.

'It is the fourth hour after dawn, my Lord.'

'What? Where are my attendants? Why wasn't I told about this sooner?'

For the first time, the scribe raised his face. Myriad expressions flickered across it: bewilderment, surprise, fear.

'No one could find you, my Lord. It is shift change today. M-many of the servants did not arrive. It is possible they have been waylaid or joined the strike. Your wake-up call-,'

'Aargh!' Zuko seized a robe and threw it on. In moments his hair was in a messy pony-tail and he was charging from the room, barking orders.

'Assemble the captains of the city and the palace guard, as well as my advisory council. I want to see them now! I want strengths doubled on the crater wall and the switchback checkpoints.'

Without a backward glance, he strode from the room.

'Now' turned in to half an hour as what few attendants remained tried to make Zuko presentable around his constant fidgeting and barking of orders. Every five minutes or so someone would rush up to him and give him an update on the strikers' progress. They seemed to be proceeding with caution for now, that or the crowd had not yet fathomed how to negotiate the bottleneck of the mountain road. They had only just reached the second switch-back by the time Zuko entered his audience chamber.

He ascended the steps to his throne and sat. Flames roared to life either side of him, their height and heat reflecting his mood. Captains and council sat bowed and still below him. The instant he raised his hand, they began clamouring over one another.

'This cannot be tolerate-,'

'-Must exercise caution.'

'-no circumstances will the Fa family-,'

'-unable to withstand civilian onslaught if-,'

'-as your advisor, I must-,'

'ENOUGH!' Zuko cut the noise off with a gesture. The room fell silent. Zuko inhaled deeply through his nose and exhaled just as slowly through his mouth, the faintest puff of smoke ghosting out with his breath. He turned his gaze upon the captains of the guards.

'Captains, your report on the strikers' current movements, demands, and the city's current state of readiness.'

The two men bowed their heads and then exchanged looks. The captain of the palace guard nodded and the captain of the city guard stood.

'My Lord, while our forces were greatly enriched by returned soldiers, many of them reside in the lower city. We will be unable to rely on them as reinforcements and therefore have only the current shift's guard to defend the city.'

Zuko resisted the urge to smooth his creased brow with his thumb.

'The strikers have not moved beyond the second turn at this stage however a greater crowd is massing behind them. This appears to have been a spontaneous affair on the part of many, with few showing true organisation and very few more choosing to follow them. Were we to implement a plan of action at this stage it is unlikely they would make it half way up the mountainside.'

'What plan of action are you suggesting?'

'My Lord, the consequences for an attempt to unlawfully enter this city are the same for a citizen as they are for a foreigner. The standing instruction is to use whatever force is necessary.'

Zuko's eyebrow rose. 'Many of those people aren't warriors! Some of them are children. They wouldn't even be able to defend themselves.'

'My Lord,' Councillor Zheng had raised his head. Zuko nodded. 'My Lord, this may be viewed as an opportunity. You must demonstrate the might of your will to your people. I strongly recommend a show of force.'

'Then what am I supposed to do with the widows and injured? A show of force isn't going to feed those people!'

'The masses must be shown that rebelliousness and disrespect of your reign are not a means to achieving their ends. I would recommend you only attend to their rice problem after they have returned to work.' Councillor Jiang interjected.

'I concur,' Zheng spoke again, 'you must instil respect, my Lord. Otherwise, your people will never uphold your law.'

Zuko could hear his teeth grinding but did nothing to try to stop it. These men knew nothing of what it was like to scavenge for a meal or rely upon the charity of others. They were singing exactly the tune Mai had said they would countless times before. More than that, they would never have spoken to his father the way they were speaking to him now. It was almost like they didn't afford him the respect they were trying to get him to force out of the peasantry. He glared.

'No! I'm not going to attack my own people.'

Several of his councillors were exchanging knowing looks without raising their heads.

'My Lord,' Councillor Fa spoke, his head bowed in a request to speak. Zuko nodded.

'It will be as you wish, of course. However, many of us wish to hear what you would then do once the horde reaches this city.'

Zuko clenched his fists on his knees, his knuckles white. He looked away from Fa and back to the captain of the city guard. They had cornered him, and they knew it. There was just no way that the capitol proper could accommodate even half of the population of the lower city, and he could not expect the aristocracy – or more accurately, their personal guards – to abstain from defending their homes from strikes, rioters and looters.

Zuko fixed the captain with his gaze. 'You will fire one warning blast and instruct them to disperse. That's all.'

'Yes, my Lord.'

'Report back here once that is done.'

'Yes, my Lord.'

'Now!'

'Of course, my Lord,' and looking a little startled, the captain of the city guard bowed himself from the room. Zuko watched him go.

Once the curtain had fluttered back over the exit, Zuko turned his gaze back to his councillors. Councillor Fa was regarding him.

'Councillor Fa.'

'My Lord, if it please you we would discuss economic strategies for dealing with this crisis once the crowd has dispersed, and appropriate sanctions-…'

Zuko heaved a sigh and shifted in his seat. In moments, the bickering had begun again, terse and barely restrained, as his councillors tried to sway him.

It was a good hour before the captain of the city guard returned and it was not until he did so that Zuko realised how low he had begun to slump in his seat. He snapped up straight and stared fixedly at the man as he paced the length of the audience chamber, the rapping of his boots echoing around the chamber. One by one, his councillors fell silent and also turned to watch the man approach.

'Your report.' Zuko said. The captain bowed.

'My Lord, we fired a single warning blast as per your instructions. The horde halted for a time. Many were seen retreating.'

Zuko felt a smile begin to grace his face.

'The horde has since split into two groups. The larger is made up mostly of civilians and children and is making for the plaza. However, a sizeable number of ex-soldiers and others are now making steady advance up the mountain path.'

'What?!' Zuko was on his feet and did not remember getting there.

That captain seemed to flinch back within himself. The councillors did not move, though a few showed slight smirks at the captain's reaction.

'What about the guards you took with you to fire the warning blast? What about the reinforcements I ordered at the checkpoints?'

'I gave them orders not to engage, my Lord, as per your instructions. They are falling back as the mob advances.'

Zuko began pacing down from his throne.

'My Lor-,'

Zuko held up a hand to forestall Councillor Shu, 'I'll talk to them myself.'

'My Lord!'

Zuko looked down at Councillor Fa. His head was bowed, but he continued, 'I must strongly advise against this. You presence only lends legitimacy to their cause.'

'The Councillor's right, my Lord,' the captain interjected. 'They haven't been aggressive so far, but only because we haven't either. If you try to stop them, you present a very tempting target.'

Zuko said nothing. He glared at the captain.

'That is not to suggest that my Lord is not capable of defending himself!' the man looked stricken at the imaginary offence, 'However should they attack you, we would be forced to respond in kind.'

Zuko scowled, 'I'm not giving them rice until they disperse. I will inform them of such.'

'Then, if I might recommend, send someone else as your representa-,'

'My Lord, I must advise against any such course of action,' Councilor Fa cut across the captain, 'any form of negotiation, address or acknowledgement on your part, even through the mouth of another, would legitimise their efforts and encourage such a course of action in the future. They must first be taught that such actions will not be tolerated, and only once they have returned to the civilised order appropriate of a citizen of this great Nation will their needs be tended to.'

'Enough! This council is only interested in recommending aggression. I can't ignore them, but I will not attack my people!'

Councillor Fa opened his mouth to speak again, but Zuko held up a hand. There was a flutter of movement at the audience chamber's entrance. A moment later, a page had flitted up to the captain of the city guard and was whispering in his ear. The captain shooed the boy away and straightened up.

'My Lord, the mob has rounded the last turn and is making for the crater wall.'

A murmur ran around the room. Zuko closed his eyes, inhaled and exhaled before opening them and turning back to mount his throne. He took his time settling himself before finally he spoke.

'Mount defences at the crater wall. Make clear your intentions. Defend if necessary, without bending where possible. Do not pursue an attack.

'Yes, my Lord.' The captain once again bowed and exited the room.

Silence reigned.

'If it please, my Lord, we would return to the matter of-,'

Zuko raised a hand, effectively cutting of Councillor Fa.

'I won't hear any more of this. We're finished for today.' Without waiting for the barely-concealed annoyance to break over the faces of his councillors, Zuko stood. Immediately those below him fell into bows. He strode to the side door and exited into his ante chamber. The curtains fell shut behind him, shielding him from the dying fire's head. He heaved a sigh, and went to find Mai.

He spied her in the fountain courtyard, under a familiar cherry-blossom tree, but before he could descend the veranda steps, he heard running feet behind him. He turned to see what he thought was the same page who had delivered a message to the captain of the city guard in his audience chamber, though he could not be sure. As soon as the boy caught his gaze, he dropped into an imperfect bow, his forehead pressed to the floor. He was still six feet from Zuko. Zuko could not suppress a smile.

'My Lord Fire lord,' the boy gabbled at the woodwork, 'a message from the Captain of the city guard. He reports that the strikers have halted before the crater wall. The still shout and demand rice, but they have not advanced and are now simply sitting on the mountain path.'

Zuko nodded. Then, realising that the boy had not so much as glanced at him the entire time, he added, 'Thank you. Take a message back to the Captain. Tell him to hold his position. You are dismissed.'

The boy scrabbled to his feet and scarpered. Zuko watched him until he vanished around a corner, and then turned back toward Mai. He could see that she was reading now, a scroll laid out across her knees. He watched her for a moment and then heaved a sigh and turned away.

He had to draft a letter, to family Bei Fong.

_______________

Ozai's fists gripped the upper bars of his cell. His shoulder muscles tensed and rippled under the simple prison tunic and he pulled himself up until his nose was pressed against one of the bars. Five counts passed before he dropped nimbly to the floor, sweat pouring from his brow.

Holding his breath to keep from inhaling the stench, he dabbed at his face with the hem of his tunic. He then seized a roll from the tray of food which had thus far lain unattended in a corner of his cell. He tore pieces off the roll and popped them into his mouth, the stale texture scratching at his tongue.

He dropped cross-legged on to a cushion in the corner. It was one of the few comforts left of those he had managed to extract from his son in exchange for information about his wife. He almost regretted finally telling the boy that shortly after the eclipse he had dispatched a search party and received word of her death. Almost regretted. The look on Zuko's face had been well worth any future comforts that withholding information was likely to have afforded him.

Ozai had finished his roll and was just starting on the bowl of rather sticky rice when the door to his cell screeched open. Having already received his evening meal and not had a visit from his upstart progeny in what was over six months by his best estimate; Ozai did not even deign to look up. That was, of course, until the intruder spoke.

'Fire Lord.'

Ozai slowly set down his bowl of rice, and turned his head. Three men were folded into bows before him, their foreheads pressed against the floor. The first wore the garb of a nobleman, though by his salt-and-pepper topknot Ozai could not recognise him. The other two knelt either side and slightly behind him. They were prison guards. A smirk danced at the corners of Ozai's mouth.

'Speak.'

'My Lord, forgive your servant of his foolishness. Assuredly, his loyalty never faltered, though necessity required he pretend otherwise. But now he fears that should this Nation suffer one more of the pretender's blunders, it will fall into revolt. And so he comes to humbly beg that you allow him to serve you as you ascend to your rightful throne once more.'

Ozai sat in silence, regarding the men before him. They had come to him at last, as he was certain they would once Zuko's failures presented themselves. Something had happened today. Of what, he could not be certain but the prison guards had appeared harassed and frantic. Still, it had taken them beyond a year and it was they who had allowed him to be imprisoned in this place in the first. He would therefore allow them an interval of bated uncertainty before his reply.

'No.'

Immediately, the nobleman began to speak again, 'Please, my Lord, this unworthy servant beseeches you-,'

'A non-bender will never sit the throne of the Fire Nation. My abdication was and is final.'

Silence rang around the cell. The men before him did not seem to breathe. Ozai smirked.

'However, the pretender is so rightly named. Were your loyalties to prove true, I may consent to secure and instruct the reign of the rightful Fire Lord.'

It was his turn to wait with breath bated. Just when the tiniest thread of uncertainty began to worm its way into his thoughts, the nobleman before him rose. Immediately all doubt was banished. Ozai's smirk widened.

With a gesture, the two guards also rose. One of them shuffled forward and inserted a key into a lock and a moment later, the tiny cage door squeaked upon.

Ozai rose. He padded toward the opening and ducked his head before stepping out.

The nobleman and the guards were once again kneeling before him.

'The Fa family is at your service, my Liege.'

Ozai smiled.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning, Zuko was once again woken by the slamming of his bedroom door. In an instant he was out of bed and in a crouch, but his surprise abated far more quickly this time, and within the minute he had risen to face his visitor.

"My apologies, my Lord!" A young woman was executing a hasty bow before him, "I bear grievous news." She hesitated.

"What?" Zuko barked.

"My Lord, forgive me but your father has escaped from the prison tower in the nigh-,"

"WHAT?!"

The unlucky messenger scuttled back a couple of paces, folding herself into an even deeper bow.

"My Lord, the guards were drugged. None of them have any idea what time he left or by what means. He was not seen by the city guard-,"

"I want a search party assembled. Immediately! And where are my attendants?"

"My Lord, your council has requested that this morning's court session be preceded by an audience with you-,"

"Fine! Assemble them too. And send someone to attend me. And some breakfast!"

"Yes, my Lord. Of course, my Lord." And bowing and scraping, she backed out of the room.

Zuko sat heavily on the foot of his bed and sighed. After several minutes, Mai's soft snores resumed next to him.

Once he was dressed and fed, he strode into his audience chamber to find his council already fully assembled. It was obvious from the hasty bows and furtive looks that they had only just stopped talking as he entered the room. Zuko scowled. Doubtless they already had an agenda of bickering and intrigue planned out to take up his whole morning. Weariness took him simply thinking about it, and it was a welcome relief to sink onto his throne behind a curtain of flame.

Zuko looked up. Councillor Fa, his stony eyes and rather frog-like mouth schooled into what Zuko was almost certain was a forced expression of humility, captured Zuko's gaze and held it. Zuko nodded and the councillor began to speak.

"My Lord, this council is aware that you have dispatched a task force to relocate the escaped prisoner."

Zuko made no response, and after a moment, Councillor Fa continued.

"We must recommend that you recall that force."

Zuko caught himself just before he leapt to his feet. His shout died on his tongue. Mai was right. Yelling at these people was no more likely to get him what he wanted. It would just make him hoarse. Nonetheless, he could not stop himself from shifting in his seat, teeth and jaw clenched. He could not keep the tension from his voice.

"Why?"

"We have only the current shift's watch to guard this city against rioters. The captain of the guard reports that their numbers are at half strength even now, as the men must take turns resting. Were you to send a force of any size in search of the fugitive, you would be dangerously depleting the protection of this city, such that not only are you unlikely to recover the prisoner, but were this city to come under attack, it would fall."

Zuko sat in silence. They were right, of course. He knew they were right. But still he couldn't quell the urge to just send the troops after his father anyway. He needed to know where Ozai was. Instead, he looked from one councillor to the next and said, "You are all in agreement on this?"

"Yes, my Lord." It was Councillor Fa that spoke, but heads nodded around the room. Zuko's scowl deepened.

"OK then. At your request, I'll hold off sending a search team until the strike has been resolved. Is that all?"

"My Lord, on that issue," Zuko turned to look at Councillor Zheng, "I had wondered if, in light of your desire for a speedy resolution to this problem so that you might recover your father, you had reconsidered the course of action I propose-,"

"No!" Zuko could not keep himself from rising to his feet this time. "I don't care if every prison in the tower escapes! I'm not going to attack my own people."

Zheng bowed low in penance. Zuko swept a glare across the rest of his councillors and, though he thought perhaps it was an act, they seemed visibly quelled.

"I have taken steps to ensure the strike's quick resolution. We won't be discussing it further."

"What steps?"

Zuko fixed Councillor Fa with a glare. The man knew instantly that he had made a mistake. The absence of honorific had Zuko's lip curling far more than the question itself.

"That will be all." Zuko ground out. He strode down from his throne and left the room. With any luck, family Bei Fong would write back soon with promises of food and other forms of aid. It was humbling to think that his plan hinged upon the generosity of two people who believed they were only obligated to him because of their misconceptions about their daughter's frailty. But it would solve the problem at hand and leave him free to deal with the next issue.

Ozai.

As he reached his study and sank down behind his desk, he allowed his mind at last to turn to thoughts of his father. Where had he gone? How had he escaped? Who had helped him? And, perhaps most importantly, what was he planning?

The questions whirled around Zuko's mind. As they mounted unanswered, he could feel his shoulders growing tenser and tenser until finally he let out a roar and seized the nearest brush. He swept some weights across the desk and began hastily to write.

_Dear Uncle…_

Once he had finished the letter, he packed it into a tube and summoned a messenger.

"Take this to the harbour and put it on a ship for Fong base in the Earth Kingdom. From there it should be taken by messenger hawk to my Uncle in Ba Sing Se. Understood?"

The messenger nodded mutely, and exited the room with a bow.

With a weary sigh, Zuko glanced at the candles in the corner of the room – a gift from the Mechanist – and saw that it was only four hours past dawn. He heaved another sigh, and headed for the training courtyard.

Divested of his heavy robes, Zuko bent wave after wave of flames at imaginary foes. Tension and anger rolled out of his body with the flex and shift of muscles too-long disused. The day grew thick and moist. Sweat rolled off his brow and down his back. He stopped only when the messenger he had sent to the harbour, now looking far more dishevelled, entered the courtyard.

"What is it?" Zuko straightened from his stance. The tension had returned to his shoulders in a single instant and he had to force his fists to unclench.

"The strikers, my Lord," the man's head hung low. His bow was shabby. His clothes were tattered and singed in places and his hair was falling out of its topknot.

"Yes?!"

"They are not allowing traffic up or down the mountain road. I tried to reach the harbour. I presented them with your seal. They accosted me, my Lord. There was nothing I could do. They… They took the letter from me."

Zuko ground his teeth and sighed sparks. He glanced to the said to avoid glaring at the obviously shaken man before him.

"My Lord they… They know that the prisoner Ozai has escaped."

Zuko said nothing.

"My Lord?" There was an unmistakeable tremor in the messenger's voice now.

"Come with me." Zuko snapped. Not bothering to pick up his robes, he walked shirtless through the palace halls back to his study. Mai was nowhere to be seen, he noticed, but he barely had time to spare that a thought. He re-drafted the letter and handed it to the messenger.

"You will take the mountain route, not the road. It will take you longer, but this message must reach my Uncle. Is that understood?"

"Y-yes, my Lord."

Zuko nodded. He tried to look kindly or at least reassuring, but the messenger scarpered from the room all the same. He sighed and fell back onto his cushion. He had only fifteen minutes for lunch, before his next appointment.

Zuko's afternoon was wasted in court. It seemed as though half the palace city had converged upon the palace proper to hear petitions for this or requests for that. He noticed that all but one of Councillor Fa's sons – he couldn't tell which – showed up to hear his deliberation on the reopening of the airship factories. The petitioner's argument was that Zuko had allowed the balloon factories to remain, and that the airships were far more efficient for international travel.

Zuko did not see the point of the whole affair as neither balloon nor airship factories were currently within his grasp anyway. Even if he exacted an order to resume production of airships, none of the workers would carry out his order.

The session broke when a page entered the audience chamber to inform Zuko that the strikers had attacked a supply cart on its way up the mountain, and were now feasting on the hill. The chamber dissolved into chaos as the courtiers – many for the first time in their lives – contemplated going hungry.

Zuko just managed to keep his temper in check long enough to dissolve the audience and make it back to his chambers. He slammed the door and stalked past Mai. Her enquiries about his day and his problem were met with growls. He headed straight for his meditation chamber and remained there for the rest of the evening.

__________________

Fire Lord Azula woke to the scent of smoke. She cast her golden gaze around her "chamber," such as it was, and took in the roughly textured stone walls and utter lack of adornment. The only furniture was the metal cot upon which she now laid, the thin straw pallet, a punishment for having burnt the three feather mattresses which came before it, scratching at her skin for the first time in her memory.

It was this sensation more than anything else that alerted her to the fact that the sickly sweet drug which usually laced her meals, keeping her mind torpid and docile, no longer had control of her. This sensation and the smell of smoke.

She inhaled deeply through her nose as she sat up. She swung her legs over the side of the cot and set them on the floor, inhaling again through her mouth. She could almost taste the scent, her senses long attuned to differentiating the subtleties held within the acrid tang. This was bending smoke, laced with just a hint of roasting meat.

Somewhere in this middling estate that passed for a sanatorium, somebody was fighting.

There was a thud and what may have been a shout but sounded more like a grunt through the thick steel of her chamber entryway. Azula stood and, quick as a flash, darted to the side of the door. Her back was pressed against the wall as she dropped into a bending stance, hands at the ready.

The door slid smoothly open. Light spilled from the hallways outside, sending a tall shadow falling across the now-vacant pallet. It hesitated only for a moment, and then took two hurried steps into the room, remaining in her line of fire for only a split second. She did not have time to react before the figure turned toward her and spoke her name.

"Azula."

Azula lowered her hands and smirked at the man now standing in the middle of what had for fourteen months been her prison.

"Hello, Father."

________________

To Zuko's – and more notably Mai's – great relief, they were awoken next morning by nothing more startling than Zuko's wake up call. The usual gaggle of attendants stood ready around the foot of his bed this time and Zuko reflected upon how nice it was to have fresh clothes and a proffered wash cloth ready and waiting for him.

He was just reaching for one of the similarly-proffered spiced rolls when Mai appeared beside him, fully primped and clothed for the day, and slapped his hand away.

"You have a breakfast this morning."

"What? No. I have a meeting with Admiral Chan and Nobleman Ruon Jian to discuss international tourism possibilities for Ember Islan-,"

"I cancelled it."

"What?! Mai! Since when did you care about my appointments?"

"Chan and Ruon Jian are idiots and you know it. You're not going to get anywhere discussing tourism with them so I don't know why you bother," Zuko started to interrupt her but she fixed him with a look and he fell silent.

"Just because you like keeping your enemies closer doesn't mean you should push your friends away. We're going to breakfast."

He opened his mouth to argue with her and then closed it again. Her persistent disdain of and refusal to partake in court affairs irked him, but when she did make up her mind about something it was useless trying to sway her. With a sigh, he dropped into a chair and allowed an attendant to bind up his hair.

He entered the breakfast room half an hour later, decked out in complete Fire Lord Regalia. The attendants in charge of his appearance had insisted that it was necessary, despite Mai's insinuation that only friends would be present.

As soon as he entered the room, he knew her definition of "friends" had been extended to political allies. The long, low table was filled and the morning sunshine was pouring in through the full-length windows and playing across the sun-yellow walls. Food had already been laid out though nobody was yet eating. Instead they were chatting amongst themselves, and those who had never been to the palace before were discretely marvelling at the rather cheerful decorations that graced this room alone.

Zuko spared the mural, which depicted the sun rising over a sparkling ocean, a glance before turning his attention to his guests. He nodded to Councillor Jiang and his wife, the highest in social standing of those present. He cast an eye over the teenaged girl sitting next to them whom he assumed was a daughter of theirs that he had yet to meet.

Further down the table, the more minor aristocratic families who nonetheless supported him were seated. "New money," Mai called them. Most of them had risen to power and wealth through military excellence and had lived in the palace city for no more than a single generation. They owned no factories or foreign lands and had few familial connections. Mai said they only supported him because they had nothing to lose by the war's ending and wanted to grab at whatever slice of power or legitimacy cozing up to the new Fire Lord could afford them.

Zuko didn't care, as long as they supported him and weren't constantly criticising any course of action he wanted to take.

He took his seat at the head of the table and all talking ceased. His friends and allies bowed before him until he instructed them to rise. The chatter began again almost immediately.

"Hey, Zuko!" Ty Lee leaned around Mai to greet him with a wave. He could see her sisters leaning around her in turn in order to cast him curious glances or demure smiles. He smiled back and nodded at her before turning his attention to a nearby platter and taking one of the spiced rolls that had eluded him earlier.

As he ate, Zuko was glad that custom dictated none should address him unless he addressed them first. It meant he could pass the entire breakfast in silent observation if he chose. While he understood Mai's reasons and even saw the necessity of the whole thing, he couldn't say he enjoyed having this kind of social function thrust on him unexpectedly. Very few of these people were actually his friends. Most of his friends were half a world away and he didn't feel particularly inclined to pretend to have the same kind of relationship with these people that he shared with them. So he sat in silence and ate, quietly observing the two-and-fro of the conversation.

Ty Lee, of course, had never been one to observe decorum.

"So, how's life in the palace, Mai? Your Mom said you practically live here now."

Zuko looked up sharply. Ty Lee was one of the very few people in the world whose comments could elicit a blush from Mai, as they were doing now.

"Only marginally more exciting than life back at home." She retorted.

"You hear that, Zuko? Your house's no more fun than Mai's."

Zuko resisted the urge to roll his eyes, "She only lives across the street. There's not a lot of difference."

"Well sure, in distance," Ty Lee's grin had Zuko waiting for the punch line. And sure enough, just as he had put a fork-full of spiced jook onto his tongue, she continued, "but it's not like there's a huge difference between living together and being married."

Zuko choked and started spluttering into his bowl. All around him pretended not to notice, but he caught a few curious glances from the other end of the table nonetheless.

"Hey, when you guys get married my circus pals can provide entertainment! Oooooh, and you should invite Sokka!"

Mai was regarding Zuko as he sputtered, a faint tint still staining her cheeks. He glanced quickly at her before looking at Ty Lee.

"We… haven't planned as far as marriage yet." He said quietly, all too aware that as many people as were able were surreptitiously trying to listen in on the conversation.

"Why not?" Ty Lee asked, all feigned innocence and curiosity. Zuko consciously relaxed his jaw.

"It hasn't come up."

"Oh! OK then!" Ty Lee beamed and turned away to strike up an animated conversation with her nearest sister as though nothing of any great significance had just occurred.

Of course, it had; for now the topic of marriage _had_ come up and – not for the first or last time – Zuko found himself forced to consider it.

Marriage would solve several of the myriad problems facing him. For a start, it would forestall any further attempts by his nobles to entice him with their daughters. A marriage also bound his wife's family to him politically, meaning he could secure at least one permanent and staunched ally. But by far the greatest benefit to be had was an heir. This, more than almost anything else, would secure his reign.

So why hadn't he done it yet?

He chanced another glance at Mai. She too was now staring at her plate, the curve of her lips hinting at the faintest of scowls.

She was beautiful, pale skinned and dark haired. She was smart, especially when it came to politics. She was high born, not that that mattered to him so much any more. She knew the Fire Nation, its court and its inner workings far better than he did. They had been betrothed once before.

But he just couldn't imagine how things would be if they were married. Would they change? Would she take a more active role in palace life if they were married? Would they still argue?

Zuko sighed. Even the thought of their arguments wearied him. He cast around for another train of thought, and hit upon one all too easily.

Inevitably, the topic of the strike had come to the table.

"-absolutely preposterous," Nobleman Kuai was saying at the far end of the table, "that the peasantry think to achieve their ends at such disrespect to the crown."

"Of course, we do not understand how the minds of the peasants work," a genial voice next to him spoke, but the man was sitting back in his chair and Zuko could not see his face around one of Ty Lee's chattering sisters, "I would think they would have realised by now that the tending of their needs is subject to their co-operation."

"What do you mean?" Ty Lee leaned around her sisters to ask, further obscuring Zuko's view.

Nobleman Kuai graced her with a patronising smile, "They will get food once they go home."

"Well why doesn't someone just tell them that?" Ty Lee's mock innocence, so convincing to one who did not know her well, seemed to be charming Nobleman Kuai. "It wouldn't have to be anyone official. They could do it sneakily, as long as the people got the message. I'll go!"

"My dear, the mob is quite unruly. Anyone would advise against such an approach."

"Oh… Well… Ok then." And just like that, Ty Lee's attention shifted back to her food.

Zuko's however, did not. He stared down the table at the still-half-filled platters of food, and his guests, now leaning back on their cushions to allow the meal to settle. There was plenty of food left here, far too much to go to waste when their city was apparently under siege. And someone should deliver the message to the strikers, despite what his council said.

They were right though. He could not be seen to negotiate or bend to such behaviour. The messenger had to be one who was already counted as disreputable, one who was trusted by the common man and mistrusted by the aristocracy.

Zuko knew then what he must do. He rose from the table.

"You will excuse me."

Mai looked up from her plate, a flash of surprise chased off her face by an equally-brief moment of anger before she schooled her features back into their calm mask. The rest of the table's occupants had sunk once more into bows. Zuko nodded at them collectively and then left the room.

As he exited the room, he signalled a messenger to follow him. A residual habit, left over from having Toph as a houseguest, kept him silent until he was half way down the corridor, well and truly out of earshot of the breakfast room.

"You will go to whichever markets or play houses you can access and find me a blue oni mask, before tonight."

"Yes, my Lord." The messenger bowed and darted away, leaving Zuko alone. He paused for a moment as the corridor spilled out into the vast hall where paintings of his forefathers still hung. Then, having made a decision, he made his way toward his mother's garden.

It took little more than two minutes after he had knelt at the side of the pond for the turtle ducks to realise that he had brought no bread with him, and their quacking and splashing was beginning to drift away. So it was that he heard the booted feet on the pavement before the intruder had come close enough to speak. He glanced up and saw a messenger, a different one this time, standing before him.

She was dressed in standard palace uniform of russet robes, but her clothing finished at her ankles and her sleeves were bound. On each forearm were stiff leather braces which extended over the wrist and hand such that her fingers were shielded. She clearly handled the messenger hawks.

"My Lord," she spoke to her boots as she executed a stiff bow, "a hawk from Dao Sheng." She offered the scroll.

Zuko took it and broke the wax seal. His gaze skated over the scroll. His eyes widened and his lip parted without his really being aware. He read the scroll again.

The estate where Azula and other addled aristocrats where housed had been attacked. The letter's sender, one of the caretakers who lived on the estate, did not know who was behind it or who had escaped. He himself had only just managed to flee.

Zuko read the scroll a third time, cursed under his breath and then snapped his mouth shut. He folded the scroll into his robes and glanced up, surprised to find the messenger still there.

"You are dismissed." He snapped. And without waiting for her customary bow, he turned on his heel and headed for his study. He would have to draft another letter to Uncle, as well as a notice for Azula's recapture. He would need to convene another meeting with his advisory council. The danger of two escaped convict might weigh more heavily against the city's defences.

And then there was the meeting with Admiral Chan and Nobleman Ruon Jian, and the afternoon's court session.

With a sigh, Zuko pushed the door to his study open.

Despite the rest of day alternating between chaos and tedium, Zuko somehow managed to get to bed before four hours past sundown. He slept heavily however, and so it was that when an attendant came, as instructed, to rouse him at two hours past midnight, he did not wake easily.

His title, hissed so that the sound would not awaken Mai, drew him slowly from sleep. For one groggy moment, he wondered why he had not been shaken awake in the way Aang or Katara were wont to do. Then he remembered, and his eyes snapped open.

He slid slowly out of bed and silently waved the attendant away from where Mai still slept. The man was holding a package, bound in cloth. Zuko took the bundle and unwrapped it. Unblemished paint gave off a dull sheen under the moonlight filtering through a nearby window. Zuko set the mask down and reached first for his cloak. Having thrown it over his shoulder and drawn up the hood, he reached blindly for his swords, sitting in place on a shelf not far from his bed. His hand brushed over the heirloom hairpiece which lay next to them, and fixed around the sheath.

"And where are you going at this hour?"

Zuko froze. Slowly, his gaze turned to fall upon the bed. Mai was sitting, then standing, then pacing round the bed to regard him. Zuko released his swords and lowered his hand. Mai's gaze was fixed upon the mask on the table next to him.

"I was-,"

"You're going to try to dissolve the strike."

He turned toward her and met her gaze, "Yes."

"And you're not telling anyone. Not even me."

"No."

She stared at him.

"You agree with them!" He burst out, "You think I shouldn't talk to these people because it'll make me look like I can't stand up to them!"

"It's not them you need to stand up to, Zuko," Before he could so much as take a step back, she had closed the distance between them and folded his hood down, but her voice and expression remained weary, "peasants and workers don't care who sits on the throne. You travelled through the Earth Kingdom. Did anyone you meet care whether Long Feng or the Earth King controlled Ba Sing Se? It's not them you have to stand up to; it's your council."

He turned away and her hands fell from his shoulders.

"How am I supposed to do that? They're right. I can't let this city be overrun. And don't-," he threw a glare at her just in time to see her swallow what she had been about to say, her face closing back into its passive expression.

"Don't start that again." He looked away from her once more, looked down at the mask.

"Come back to bed, Zuko."

Moments later there was the rustling of sheets. Zuko sighed. Now, as always, that leaden tiredness had crept into his bones. She was right, as usual. Tomorrow he would face his council and outline his own plan for dealing with the strikers. With any luck, the issue would be resolved before the day was done.

Zuko shrugged off his cloak and handed it back to the attendant, who had stood silent and unnoticed through the entire altercation. With another sigh, he climbed back into bed.

________________

The war balloon drifted over the lower city of the Fire Nation Capitol. Fire Lord Azula reclined next to her father on the balloon's only chair, while Nobleman Fa's youngest son fed the boiler.

It was only a matter of time now.

Azula sat up and cast a glance over the side of the balloon. Below was the inky landscape, spangled by the lights of the lower city. Above was a sky smudged by moonlight reflecting off the clouds. And ahead… ahead was blackness, but for the faintly-blinking lights of what could only be the palace.

The rhythm of the Fa whelp's fire blasts changed. And with a slight lifting sensation that spread from her ankles to her midsection, Azula knew they had begun to descend.

"Why are we landing? We have not reached the palace city yet."

The boy turned dull grey eyes upon her and almost gave the most insolent of sneers before bowing his head. "The strikers still block the mountain road, Fire Lord. Should we attempt to pass by air without stating our purpose, we will be apprehended before we have even settled the landing."

"Oh, I do not – Strikers? What strikers?"

"Th-the strikers, Fire Lord, who have been-…"

Azula glared at him and he fell silent. "Set us down now! It seems my first act as Fire Lord will be to deal with my brother's incompetence."

As the balloon began a sharper descent, Azula cast a glance at her father. He too was sitting up now, and smirking out at the night sky. Azula scowled, an admonition on the tip of her tongue, when with a bump and a jolt, the balloon landed.

Azula hissed and smoothed her hair, shooting another glare at the Fa whelp in the darkness. To her pleasure, he quaked before her. A smirk still blossoming on her face, she climbed out of the balloon and started up the slope.

"Come, Father!" She did not look back to see if Ozai was following.

The shadowy hillocks of the sleeping peasants came into view as she approached the crest of the hill. She swept her gaze over them and stopped ten feet short of the nearest. In an instant, blue fire sprang to life at the tips of her fingers, spreading its bright light over the scene before her. The heat of it flooded her face and sang through her veins, dispelling the last of the lethargy that a lack of bending and life in the sanatorium had left her.

"What is going on here?" Her voice rang clear through the night air. Behind her, her father was a looming presence. The bodies before her did not stir.

Azula waited.

Within the circle of her flame's light, one of the peasants shifted, rolled over and then let out an obscenely loud snore.

Azula blinked. The corners of her mouth twitched down into an ugly scowl. In one swift motion, she dropped back into a familiar stance, her leg sweeping in a high arc and sending azure flames in its wake. They rushed out over the sleeping crowd to fall in hot cinders on sleeping heads.

The rustle of shifting bodies quickly turned to rumbled murmurs then startled shouts as grasses, clothes and hair fed her flames. In minutes, a hive of stamping, rolling and cursing people were on the ground before her.

She cleared her throat.

Only those nearest her spared her a glance. The rest of the gaggle continued with their fidgeting and mutters. Azula furrowed her brow, her scowl deepening. In an instant, she tensed and then punched at the air. A ball of flame erupted from her fist and bathed those before her in brilliance once more. Silence fell.

"Is this how you treat your Fire Lord? Bow when I address you!"

Those nearest her sank to their knees. But beyond her circle of firelight, shadowed shapes remained standing and murmurs rose among them.

"You're not Fire Lord!" A tall figure shouted, "You're the crazy pri-,"

Azula's arms whirled. The hillside was momentarily thrust into darkness as the flame fled her fingers. Then brilliant sparks arced from her fingertips and hurled themselves at the figure who had spoken.

In the blackness, his body glowed beautiful, blue and eerie for one shining moment as he was lifted from the ground. Then he fell with an ignominious thud, just another blemish on the hillside.

"I challenged and defeated my usurping brother in Agni Kai for the throne. Anyone who says otherwise is a traitor to my crown. I come to reclaim my right from the pretender. All of you," she gestured languidly with one hand, "stand in my way."

"However, I am feeling merciful. Return to your homes now and your transgressions will be forgiven. Fail to do so and you will be," her gaze lingered on the blackened corpse that had moments ago been a man, "punished."

More muttering broke out amongst the throng. Azula fixed those nearest her with a piercing gaze, and as expected, they were the first to draw apart. One by one, people stepped aside, clearing a path for her and her father to proceed up the mountainside to the crater lip. Azula passed them by without a second glance, her handful of flames held out before her. However, as high as her head was held, she still saw that several people bowed and still fewer knelt as she passed them by. She smiled.

Soldiers were waiting at the crater lip.

"Halt!" She was more than twenty feet away when the call came. Not far enough, should she call upon her lightening. With that knowledge foremost in her mind, she smiled at the officer before her.

"Let me pass."

"No unidentified persons are allowed into the city."

"You do not recognise your own monarch? I am your Fire Lord!"

The soldier quaked before her. As she had expected, he had seen her display and heard her words. Her smile broadened. Dear Zuzu, so faithful to blind loyalty, would never understand the power that pure fear could afford him.

Azula stepped forward, her gaze never leaving that of the soldier. His fellows had drawn up behind him now. They fanned out before her, a pitiful attempt to stay her course. Still, she held their leader's gaze as she advanced.

He looked away, his glance wavering over her shoulder and then flicking back to her. She was close enough now to see the faint sheen of sweat where her firelight reflected off his forehead. A rock skittered behind her.

Halting for just a moment, she turned her head a fraction. Her gaze flicked behind her. On the slope, barring the way she had just come, a number of the protesters had gathered and were watching. Azula smirked.

"The peasantry see what you do not. I am the Fire Nation's rightful ruler. Allow me to pass and I will be merciful. Allow me to pass and I will forget your loyalty to the usurper."

"Stay where you are!"

"Soldiers, stand down!" Out of the darkness, a new voice called. In an instant, all attention was drawn to the newcomer. The next second he had summoned a flame of his own. The pin in his topknot, a mark of his rank, gleamed in the firelight.

"But Lieutenant Fa-!"

"You stand in the presence of the rightful Fire Lord! Bow and let her pass!"

The soldiers before her wavered.

"That is an order soldier!"

Several of the men swayed, and then began to sink to their knees. First one, then two more, then more than half were pressing their foreheads to the ground. But more than a quarter remained standing. Azula glared at them.

"No!" The first stepped forward, his hands raised in a defensive posture. Azula smirked and fell into a stance of her own. The soldier lashed out. Flame leapt toward Azula. She threw two quick jabs. Heat and light exploded between them and when spots had ceased whirling before Azula's eyes, men were wrestling before her. Two of the loyal had leapt forward to restrain their traitorous fellow. Other resistors had joined the fray. Their ranks were quickly dissolving into chaos. Azula did not know whether to smirk or roll her eyes in derision. This was what the army had come to under Zuko's rule.

"Fire Lord." Lieutenant Fa had extracted himself from the brawling mess and was executing a stiff bow before her. When he rose, she saw that his lip was split, but aside from this he appeared to have escaped unharmed.

"It would be my honour to escort you through the palace city, and aid you in your restoration to your rightful throne."

Azula considered for a moment, her head tilted every so slightly to the left. Then she smiled at the man and nodded.

"Very well, lead on."

________________

For the third time in a week, Zuko woke to a crash at the door. Tired as he was, it took a moment for his mind to comprehend that the cinders and hot pieces of wood raining down upon his bedspread meant this was not another pointless interruption. It took a moment more for his previously-honed instincts to kick in, and by the time he had thrown himself from the smouldering bed clothes, the light from the hall had already been obscured by a long shadow.

He crouched, grogginess still clouding his mind. Were those shouts in the distance? What was that clanging noise? He could smell smoke. It seemed to take an age for his gaze to drift from the heap of bedclothes where Mai still lay to the doorway itself, and another age for him to meet the searing gaze which was boring into him.

His father stood in the doorway.

Before he had consciously registered the fact, Zuko was backing up against the wall, one hand groping for the swords he knew were lying on a shelf just behind him. But then there was movement by the door. A second figure entered the room. The ash and cinders now littering his bed suddenly fell into place as his sister came into view.

"Azula-," He did not even have time to fall into a bending stance. No sooner had he pronounced the name then his father was on him. A hand closed around his throat. Pain exploded in his head and back as he was thrown against a wall, his toes scraping uselessly, too far off the floor to support his weight.

His eyes began to water. Blood began to pound in his ears. Through the spots now dancing before his eyes, he saw Mai sitting up, slowly. He saw Azula's arms whirl, sparks dancing from her fingertips, slowly. His mouth worked frantically as he tried to shout a warning, but all that he could manage was a choked wheeze. He saw Mai's eyes widen as lightening leapt for her – slowly, so slowly. And then it struck.

Beautiful and terrible, she sat jerking and twitching, her body wreathed in tendrils of the cold fire, that last look of surprise permanently fixed upon her face. Zuko's head was spinning. He couldn't breathe. He needed to breathe. His hands groped behind him for his swords, but all that he found was the tarnished edge of a hair ornament. The last tendril of lightning pulsed and died. Zuko's vision went black.

________________

The wind ruffled Aang's robes as he loosed his hold on Appa's reins. Ba Sing Se sprawled below him, the stone forecourt of the palace becoming clearer as Appa circled downward. The sounds of fanfare drifted up to him. The smell of late-autumn sungi orchids wafted past his nose. Aang smiled despite the gravity of the news he bore.

As Appa swooped down for their final landing, Aang saw the honour guard, the source of the fanfare. At its head, at the base of the steps leading up to his palace, stood King Kuei himself. Several of the guards stumbled back as displaced air from Appa's landing buffeted them. Aang pretended not to notice and pirouetted nimbly from Appa's head to land in a neat bow before King Kuei.

"Good afternoon, your Highness!" He said as he rose. His boisterous smile was returned somewhat diluted, but the King's eyes were bright.

"Avatar Aang, it's good to see you again," the smile fell from the King's face. "I must admit that when I received word from the Fire Nation, I had my concerns. But you're safe."

"I am safe. But you should still be concerned."

The King's face, always so expressive, betrayed both confusion and reservation. Aang did not have time to consider what that meant.

"You must be tired. I'll have Appa fed and taken to the stables. Come, we'll find you a room to rest."

"Thank you, your Highness, but what I came to see you about really can't wait."

Again there was a look somewhere between confusion and reservation. Again Aang did not have time to consider.

"Very well. Then I believe this is a matter we should discuss... Privately." And with that, the Earth King turned.

Wearing a slight scowl, Aang followed.

He was led to the grand audience chamber, and stood idle as the Earth King mounted the steps to his throne. The man steeped his fingers and peered over the top of his spectacles at Aang. Aang fought the urge to fidget.

"First of all, I need to know what you have heard." The Earth King spoke first.

Aang shrugged, "the same thing you have, I guess: Azula's taken over the Fire Nation; she's welcoming foreign emissaries; Zuko's in prison."

"I assume the Water Tribe Chiefs, like me, did not send any such emissaries."

"Heh. No. Chief Hakoda sent Katara and Sokka and a ship of men to the north to gather support, and I came to you."

King Kuei arched a manicured eyebrow, "Excuse me? Support for what?"

It was Aang's turn to look confused, "for our invasion of the Fire Nation."

"Invasion? I don't know if I can lend my support to any kind of invasion."

It took Aang a good thirty seconds to realise that he had been standing in shocked silence and that his mouth was open. He shut it.

"What do you mean? This is Princess Azula! The girl who took over Ba Sing Se! And Fire Lord Ozai's with her too! They're going to try to take over the world again. They've gotta be stopped."

"That is true. She did take over Ba Sing Se. But the Fire Nation has withdrawn from the Earth Kingdom, they've dismantled most of their war machinery, and the comet has passed. It would take a lot of manpower and resources for them to even attempt any kind of invasion again."

"But they will!" Aang threw his arms out either side of him and began pacing towards the throne, the fact that he was in the presence of a monarch who was not a personal friend or family of such had completely escaped him and so he missed the look of disapproval that flickered across the Earth King's face.

"You don't know that. While I am not so trusting as to send emissaries, it must have been two weeks since this news was sent, and there has been no news of any incursions so far."

Aang stopped in his tracks, fists clenched. He took a deep breath, determinedly relaxed his hands and then turned to face the Earth King.

"So you're just going to wait until they attack you before you do anything about it?"

"Do not misunderstand me, Avatar Aang. I will make preparations. I will call up troop reserves. I will double forces at the Fong and other coastal bases. I will be prepared. But the Earth Kingdom has only been one year out of one hundred years of war. My people are tired of fighting, and I must listen to them. I will not attack the Fire Nation when such an attack is unwarranted. I cannot lend you any forces to take part in what would essentially be a Fire Nation civil war."

Aang stared.

"To be honest, young Avatar, and I speak as a friend, I believe you are letting your affection for the previous Fire Lord cloud your judgement in this matter."

Aang stood rooted to the floor. It took him a moment to realise that, not only were his fists clenched once more but his jaw was too. He whirled on his heel, the ruffling of his clothes sending eddying breezes whirling outward from him. They intensified, whispering then whistling then wailing until they yanked the doors to the audience chamber open and Aang strode out on unnaturally long and cushioned strides.

He wasn't biased. It wasn't just Zuko he wanted to save. The Earth King was right. The Fire Nation couldn't afford another war any more than the rest of the nations could. This would completely throw the world out of balance and he had no idea what to do about it. He had already taken away Ozai's bending. He could take away Azula's too, but he'd have to get near enough to her first and for that he'd need help.

So lost was he in thought that he didn't realise until he was half-way there that his feet were carrying him to the Jasmine Dragon. At that thought, his spirits rose. Iroh would know what to do. At the very least he would have ideas. And then there was Toph. The fact that he would have to return to the Earth King's palace in order to collect Appa did put a slight damper upon this ray of hope, but he pushed it to the back of his mind as he crossed the threshold into the teashop.

To say that it was packed would be an understatement. Every table was full and several people were milling about in front of a harassed looking young man who was trying to tell them that no, they simply did not take reservations and it was inappropriate for people to stand about waiting. Aang could hear Iroh's gravely tones from where he was bustling round the back of the teashop, as the rattle and clatter of teapots kept time. Chatter buzzed from all sides and a dozen sweet perfumes assaulted Aang's nostrils. But over it all was the rich, moist aroma of freshly boiled tea and just the faintest hint of spiced honey cake. Aang smiled.

Until the floor rippled under him and pitched him forward, wiping the expression from his face.

"Whoa!"

"Look sharp, Twinkletoes!"

Aang blew out a breath to keep from falling on his face, and used his momentum and a little airbending to continue the motion. He landed daintily with a ruffling of robes, to face his long-time friend and earthbending teacher where she was lounging in a corner table, one food propped on the table itself and the other dangling down to trail on the floor.

"Hey, To- _whoa!_" He could feel his eyes widening and was once again too late in realising that his mouth was hanging open. It hardly mattered, however.

Toph swung her foot off the table and stood. She wore a dress styled in what Aang guessed was the latest Ba Sing Se fashion. Too late Aang realised he was staring.

"You look like a girl," he blurted. Too late he added a half-chuckle and reached round to scratch the back of his scalp, grinning.

"Funny that." She grinned right back, and closed the distance between them far more quickly than any other high society girl would dare walk in such a dress. She landed a solid punch, half affection and half playful chagrin, on his upper arm. He winced.

"Ow!"

The blow quickly became a hard grip, her fingers digging experimentally into the muscle.

"OW!" Aang said again.

"Suck it up, Twinkletoes. You've been slacking."

"I have not! I've been busy."

"Yeah, busy playing kissy-face with Sweetness. You've been slacking."

Aang's stomach felt like it had dropped out through his feet. He frowned.

"Toph, Katara and I broke up."

There was a pause no longer than the time it took for Aang to draw breath.

"Eh, her loss," Toph said with a shrug. Then she flashed a grin that was all teeth "I mean; you're the Avatar. Just "cause you've let yourself get soft is no reason for her to dump you."

"I'm not soft!"

"Wanna put money on that? I could take you right here right now, even in this stupid dress."

"What is going on here?" At the sound of the gentle but steady voice, both Aang and Toph froze, Toph's grin still on her face.

"Ah, Avatar Aang. It is good of you to visit again."

Aang turned and bowed to the smiling elderly man before him, "General Iroh."

"I am not a General anymore and you do not need to bow to me. Please, sit. Won't you have some tea?" He gestured to the table that Toph had vacated. Several other patrons were eyeing it warily, Aang noticed, as though they would have liked to take it but dared not. In a few moments, Aang discovered why.

"Yeah, what can I get you, Twinkletoes?" Toph strode over to the corner table and thumped a foot up on one of the chairs rather possessively.

"You're a waitress?" Aang could not keep the tone of surprise from his voice and too late realised he was walking into trouble.

Toph scowled, "Yeah, why?"

"No reason! I just… You weren't uh… working when I got here."

"Hey, I'm an elite service. Now sit down!"

"Yes, Sifu Toph!"

Aang sat. He was smiling. He didn't need to look at Toph to know that she was smiling too.

"Uh… I'll have a pot of Oolong and some egg custard tart-,"

"The Regular and a Chicken Poop Pie. Got it."

"Hey wait, that's not what I-," but she was already gone, winding her way between the tables toward Iroh and the kitchen.

Aang settled back into his chair.

She returned not two minutes later with a pot of tea and two plates of food, and dropped into the seat opposite him.

"I've been given the afternoon off."

"Weren't you taking it off anyway?" That comment earned him a scowl, and Aang took shelter behind his first cup of tea. The steam tickled his nose. The first scalding sip washed over his tongue and down his throat to expand like glowing hope in his belly. It was delicious.

"So apart from your woeful love life, what's up?" It was as though her words had traded the tea for ice in his throat. Aang looked away.

"Oh, you know, the usual: King Kuei's being himself; Sokka's being crazy; the Southern Water Tribe's been rebuilt. It looks amazing. You have to come visit some time.

She scoffed, "Yeah, right."

Aang let out a sigh. So far, so good. With any luck, he could put off having to explain until there weren't so many curious ears around to hear him.

As afternoon became evening, people began finally to filter out of the teashop. Toph flitted away to serve people on occasion. Most of them greeted her with the familiarity of regulars, and showed no surprise at her unique menu. When she was free, however, she sat and chatted with Aang at her corner table. The two of them had made their way through three pots of tea and several rice cakes before the last group of patrons were ushered out by the same harassed looking young man who had been staving off loiterers all afternoon. With a final admonition and a shove of the teashop's doors, he managed to evict the stragglers.

"You should go home too, Tong Ri," Iroh called as he made his way from the back of the teashop toward Toph's and Aang's table, "I am sure that Miss Bei Fong and I can manage the cleaning up."

The boy gave a wan smile, hung up his apron on a hook by the door, and slipped out.

Iroh ambled over to the corner and stood beside it, his contentment almost palpable.

"Here, General Iroh, have my seat!" Aang began to get to his feet, his teacup letting out a soft thud as he set it on the table.

"No, no. Do not trouble yourself. I may be weary, but you have been travelling on a bison's back."

"Appa's the most comfortable ride there is!" Toph could practically hear Aang's smile through his voice. She rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, right." She muttered.

"What? He is."

"If you like fluffy snot monsters."

Aang did not respond to the bait and Toph rolled her eyes again at the grin she just knew he was wearing. A moment later Iroh shifted where he stood so that he could pour himself a cup of tea without elbowing either of them.

"What is it that brings you to my teashop, young Avatar?"

Toph sat up straighter in her chair, her feet falling to the floor. Aang had avoided the question earlier and well she knew it. He wouldn't be allowed to this time.

"Best tea in all of Ba Sing Se, haha!"

Toph frowned and pointed a finger across the table at him, "That's the second time you've dodged that one, Twinkletoes. What's going on?" With a shift of her feet, Aang's vital signs came into focus. His pulse was fluttering away and a moment later he let out a sigh.

"Azula and Ozai broke out of prison. They've taken over the Fire Nation capitol."

There was a gasp and a crash and Toph felt the shock of breaking china ripple through the floor. Iroh took a step back.

"That is… not possible. I received a letter from Zuko not a week ago."

"Chief Hakoda received a letter from Azula herself. She's calling herself Fire Lord." Aang's voice, devoid of its usual cheer, sounded low and thick, as though he were talking around something in his throat.

"The Captain of the trade vessel that brought the letter told us that the Fire Nation's fallen into civil war. We want to help. We've got to fight. This could undo everything we've achieved. But the Earth King won't send troops to help. Katara and Sokka and some Water Tribe men have gone to the North Pole. I'm supposed to be meeting them at Crescent Moon Island in a week. But without troops, I don't know what to do."

Silence rang throughout the teashop for the first time all day.

"What about Zuko?" Toph ventured at last. Iroh wasn't going to say it. Iroh couldn't say it and well she knew it. For an instant she wondered if she'd been wrong to ask, but she had to know.

"He's alive. He's in prison. Azula's invited envoys from all Nations. We were going to use that as an excuse to get close and then storm the capitol and rescue him but-,"

"You need troops." Toph said curtly. Next to her, Iroh seemed to sag into himself. She tensed, ready to bend a stool beneath him should he suddenly lose his feet.

"Yeah." Aang's reply was quiet and directed away from her, as though he too were focussed on Iroh.

Silence fell again, but this time it was short lived.

"I must go to him." Iroh's voice sounded almost hoarse, and no sooner were the words spoken than he was striding toward the exit. Before Toph could react, he had the doors open.

Then Toph was on her feet. She stamped. A low wall materialised in the doorway to the Jasmine Dragon and Iroh teetered just short of tripping over it.

"Hold it right there, Old Timer," to her relief, he paused. She could feel him tensing and thought perhaps it had something to do with her tone. He was the only person, aside from her parents, whom she almost always addressed with respect. Not now.

"What makes you think that if you go back there they won't just chuck you in prison with him?"

His shoulders seemed to sag and just like that he turned back from the powerful general striding into battle to the weary old man.

"Toph's right, General Iroh. You have to stay here right now." Aang said quietly from his chair.

"Yes," His voice grew louder as he turned back to face them, but Toph was startled by the frailness in it. He so seldom radiated anything but strength, "But I must send word immediately." To who he was sending word did not need to be stated: The Order of the White Lotus.

"You can do better," Toph piped. "You can send me."

Iroh froze again, "No."

"Why not?" Toph failed to keep the indignant whine from her voice.

"As you have just made plain to me, my brother is a ruthless man. If I will be in danger, you will certainly be so."

"Well yeah, but it's not like danger's anything new. Besides, if you go back you're just another Fire Nation citizen. He can do whatever he likes with you. If _I_ go back, I'm an envoy. One sure fire way to get the Earth King involved is to take his envoy prisoner. I mean, I know your brother's dumb and all, but he's not _that_ dumb."

"And if he is?"

"Then you get the whole might of the Earth Kingdom on your side. It's a win-win."

He seemed to sag even further on his feet. She almost wished she could retract the offer but instead she scowled and held firm.

"If you are intent upon going, I cannot stop you. But I would beg that you be careful and trust no-one."

"Gotcha."

"Come then. Let us close up. You must prepare, and write to your parents."

"Ugh. Do I _have_ to?"

He did not respond. But when he turned away and headed back for the kitchen, Aang leant across the table to whisper, "Good one, Toph."

"What did I do?" She replied with false innocence.

"You made him smile."

Later that evening, she stood outside Iroh's apartment, a rucksack lending a familiar weight to her shoulder. She had thankfully been allowed to exchange the dress for travelling clothes, but they were still far too impractical for her liking. Aang stood a little way off, absently stroking Appa as he waited for her to say her goodbyes.

She punched Iroh lightly on the arm and grinned, "I'll be seeing you, Old Time-,"

She was cut off as Iroh folded her into a hug, "One would hope so, Toph."

He released her and held her at arm's length. She thought she may have imagined the dampness hitting her temples.

"I must urge you to make caution your friend. Hasty words will only bring you strife in such a place."

"Yes, Sir!"

"Take this," he pressed some tea into her hand, "And good luck." He released her.

Her grin faltered only for a moment, and then she stepped back and climbed up on to Appa. A breath of wind and rustling of robes told her that Aang had launched himself onto Appa's head. With a "yip yip!" Appa lurched, and Toph grinned despite herself. They were off on another adventure; by her second least favourite form of travel.

________________

"There! There!"

Katara smirked at her brother, hopping from foot to foot on the deck of their ship, and then followed the direction he was pointing to squint into the blue, blue sky. A tiny black blot was growing larger and larger and even as she watched, resolved itself into the form of a tiny bison.

"Aang!" She waved.

"He can't hear you." Sokka said from beside her where he had stopped his prancing.

"No kidding. If he could, he'd be able to see the little jig you just did." She sniped back. Sokka gave his best sheepish grin and looked back at the bison now bearing down upon them.

For her part, Katara turned her gaze out upon the vast empty ocean to the east.

"I don't see any Earth Kingdom ships." She said, almost to herself.

"Appa just probably travels faster than they do," Sokka's expression did not look certain as he said it and a moment later he was looking back at Appa and avoiding her eye, "They're probably just beyond the horizon."

"Since when are you Mr. Optimist, huh?"

"Hey, I tell it like it is. This isn't like last time at all. This time, we've got the upper hand. The universe is totally on our side."

Appa let out a call and a moment later men were shouting and the ship was rocking as he set down on deck. The wind picked up, lifting Katara's hair off her neck and sending it whirling about her face. But it settled a moment later and then Aang was standing before them, his usual beam somewhat dimmed.

"You made it!" He said.

"Of course we did. You didn't think you were going to beat us here did you?" Sokka said, as he gestured widely at the crescent island behind them. He seemed to have taken the comment as an affront to his sailing abilities despite the fact that he had spent more time with Katara planning what they were going to say to Chief Arnook than doing any of the actual sailing.

"Well no, I just that with the blockade-,"

"What blockade?" Katara cut in.

"They already re-established the blockade?" Sokka said over her. The pair of them exchanged shocked looks.

Aang looked momentarily confused, "The Fire Navy blockade, to the east of here. We flew right over it. They didn't fire on us or anything, but they're there, I guess in case of an invasion force."

"Is that why there aren't any Earth Kingdom ships with you?" Sokka looked hopefully around Appa at the horizon, as though expecting the delayed ships to appear there at any moment. Katara knitted her brows and frowned.

"No," Aang dropped his gaze and scuffed his show on the deck, "King Kuei didn't want to be the one to start another war."

"Yeah," Sokka's gaze shifted from the horizon back to Aang, "Chief Arnook was the same."

"What about King Bumi?" Katara asked.

"We went to Omashu, but he wasn't there." His gaze found Katara's, and for a moment she saw there the hopelessness that had on occasion taken him during their journeys together. Automatically, she reached out an arm to hug him, but as soon as she did so, his gaze hardened and his mouth firmed into a determined line. She dropped her hand. If he needed some distance to get used to just being her friend again then she'd give it to him. If he was trying to be independent then that was a good thing too.

"Wait, what do you mean "we"?" Sokka was saying. He looked from Aang to Appa's saddle, where an unfamiliar-looking girl was stepping gingerly over the side, her head bowed.

"What?" Aang turned to follow Sokka's gaze.

"Well, don't you move fast?" Sokka said, a grin splitting his face from ear to ear. He nudged Aang conspiratorially in the arm, "So you're going to tell us who she is then?" The girl was now sliding down Appa's side, to land in a heap on the deck not far from them.

Next to him, Katara had dissolved from thoughtfulness into a fit of giggles but was trying to squash the sound behind her hand. To his bewilderment, Aang began to chuckle as well.

"Um… Sokka? That's Toph."

Sokka looked from Aang to Katara to the girl – Toph, who had sprung to her feet and was stretching her arms above her head to crack her knuckles as she stared blankly out to sea. She inhaled, as though sniffing the sea air. Sokka held his breath. She hadn't hear-,

"I heard that, Snoozles!" A hand whipped out, her finger pointing straight at his nose. As far away as he was, Sokka still rocked back on his heels as though she had just thrust an arm into his face. Then she was striding toward them. Without any regard for personal space, she stopped short, her gaze directed straight into his chest.

"Uh… hi, Toph," Sokka stared determinedly at Toph's face, "you've uh… grown." He snapped his mouth shut. Had his voice just _squeaked_? Aang and Katara snickered behind their hands. Toph just raised an eyebrow and pouted before her expression suddenly cleared and she rolled her eyes.

"They're called boobs, genius," and she landed a solid punch right in the centre of his chest, "Surprised _you_ haven't grown any, oh mighty warrior."

"Hey! I work out!"

"Yeah, right. That's not what Aang said. He said you've been playing house in the South Pole while we've been off saving the world, solving people's problems."

"But… Ba Sing Se doesn't have any problems, does it?" Aang looked almost genuinely concerned. Sokka would have marvelled at the level of deviousness the kid had finally attained, but his fight was with Toph right now.

"Ah HA! You've been in Ba Sing Se sipping tea and swaying around in your little girly dresses!"

Toph snorted, "I don't _sway_! And I could still whip you even in one of my girly dresses!"

Aang and Katara exchanged a thoroughly confused look but a moment later they both burst out laughing as Sokka paraded across the deck, his hips gyrating with each step. He sashayed down the deck away from Toph and, when he reached the mast, turned back to poke his tongue out at her.

She stared blankly into space, completely unawares.

Laughter roared from the stern of the ship as sailors, attention caught by the display, saw its climax. Sokka's face fell. Toph snickered.

"Whatever you did to make a fool of yourself this time, Snoozles, I'm going to have to wait for the land-based version."

"Yeah, yeah," Sokka muttered, stalking up the deck to grab Toph's arm, "C'mon. Your cabin's this way."

"Lead on, Captain!"

They took dinner on deck that night, sitting in a small circle next to Appa's tail with their food between them. It would have felt just like old times if it had been dirt beneath their feet and the creaking and rocking of the ship didn't keep intruding on their conversation.

The other Water Tribe sailors – those who weren't tending to the steering of the vessel – were below decks enjoying a far more raucous meal. From time to time, Sokka would throw looks toward the hatch, but then one of his friends would speak and he would turn back to them, grinning.

Once Katara was done trying to coax Toph to eat a meal she was too seasick to keep down, the four of them flopped back on the deck and lay in silence for a moment.

"So what's the plan then?" Toph said finally from where she lay next to Appa's tail. She couldn't see the stars or the ever-larger Fire Nation isles that were now slinking by in the darkness, and so she very quickly grew bored with lying still and quiet.

"Plan?" Aang asked.

"You know, the plan? We gonna bust in there and kick some butt like on the day of black sun?"

"We can't." Sokka said, "Maybe if we'd had some more support, but there aren't enough of us to make any kind of real assault. We'd be better off using the cover of envoys to get close to Azula so that Aang can take her out."

"What, why me? And what do you mean, take her out?"

There was a rustling of clothes as both Katara and Sokka rolled over to give Aang almost identical looks of incredulity.

"You're the Avatar. You're neutral. If any of us try to hurt Azula, that's an act of war." Sokka said.

"Oh. Okay then. So we get invited in and I just arrest her and-,"

"Aang…" Katara began, but Toph cut her off.

"Yeah, no. You're gonna have to kill her." She said.

There was an instant of ringing silence in which Toph restrained a sigh and tried to guess at her friends' reactions. Katara would probably be glaring, even though she had been about take her sweet time in getting to exactly the same point. Sokka would be looking grave. Aang would be looking clueless-,

"What? Why?"

Were this any other time or place, Toph thought, she'd have been happy to have just won a bet with herself. But as it was, Aang's naïveté of politics would probably just get them in even more trouble.

"You guys weren't there as much as I was after the war." Toph began.

"Weren't where?" Katara interrupted.

"In the Fire Nation. Duh. One of the major reasons this whole thing has probably started is because Ozai and Azula were left alive after the war. You can't do that when you kick a king off his throne. There're always gonna be people who want to put him back there again. And well, now they have."

"Are you saying it's my fault?" Aang said. The soft thud of booted feet on decking told her he had got to his feet.

"Of course it's not your fault, Aang. Toph doesn't know what she's talking about."

"Yes I do, Katara. You guys weren't there. You didn't hear them. Every time something went wrong there'd be someone whispering about how it never would have happened if either Ozai or Azula were still Fire Lord. They never said it so Zuko could hear, but-,"

"So how did you hear it then?" Katara said.

Toph shrugged, "I listened."

"Oh, so you were eavesdropping."

Toph almost laughed, "Sweetness, it's not my fault all you sighted people talk too loud even when you're trying to keep secrets. And besides, _everyone_ eavesdrops at court. If they don't do it themselves, they get their servants to do it. Otherwise they'd never know who was planning to stab them in the back. So quit being all indignant about it. The point is; there can't be any loose ends this time. Aang's gonna have to kill Azula, and probably Ozai too."

"It's not my job to kill people I don't like." Aang said, his voice firm.

Toph rolled her eyes, "We've had this argument before."

"That's right! We have. So I don't know why we're still talking about it."

"But you're the Avatar," absent was the calculating energy that had infused Sokka's voice only moments before, "You're the only one who can take down a king without starting a war." Instead he sounded half-defeated, the way he did when he was running out of ideas and feeling the strain. Toph wondered if anyone else noticed.

"You don't get it!" Aang paced away, his boots thumping uncharacteristically on the decking, "Me being the Avatar is the _reason_ I can't go round killing kings! It's not right and it's not my job. I'm supposed to protect the spiritual balance of the world. I'm supposed to help people fix problems that threaten that balance. If I just went round killing people, where would it stop? Should I kill the swamp people because they're Water Tribe living on Earth Kingdom soil-?"

"Aang, that's not-," But Katara was cut off.

"No! You all have to listen to me! I'm not some almighty king. I don't want people to just do what I say because they're afraid I'll kill them if they don't. It's not my job to kill people or play politics or solve every tiny little disagreement that people could figure out for themselves!" His voice had grown louder as he turned back towards them, but now it seemed muted, as though his words were directed away from Toph and toward someone else; Katara.

"Aang, we know," she said into the silence, "but the thing is, this does threaten the spiritual balance of the world. People like Ozai and Azula; they're never going to negotiate. They're never going to make peace. So we have to take them down."

"You don't know that. None of you know that. You told me I had to stop avoiding my responsibilities. Well, I am. But that means I'm doing this my way, and that means negotiation first." And with that, he stormed off. A moment later, the hatch to the lower decks creaked and Toph heard his boots descending the stairs.

Next to her, Katara heaved a sigh.

"Well, that was interesting," Toph said, "So, what's the plan?"

________________

AN: I'm feeling the need to defend this chapter a little bit. I don't like it when a story has a non-canon 'ship preference and kills off the canon love interest. I don't like the way Mai generally gets treated in Z/K fic. Unfortunately, I just couldn't envision a scenario for her survival in this story. Azula would want Mai dead possibly more than she would want Zuko dead. Ozai would want her dead because of the possibility that she could already be carrying Zuko's heir. While Zuko has some value as a hostage because of his friendship with the gang, Mai doesn't. So I just couldn't imagine Ozai or Azula allowing her to live. It's a shame because I was actually enjoying writing Mai in this fic. Sorry Mai.

Also, because I forgot it in the first chapter: I do not own Avatar. I make no money from this fic. I'm just playing with someone else's toys in someone else's sandbox. Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

Aang woke the next morning on the cot in his cabin, to find that the fabric had imprinted on his cheek in the night. Rubbing at the abraded flesh, he headed up on deck with only fuzzy memories of last night's argument.

A cool wind ruffled his robes and lifted his spirits. He smiled as he spotted his friends, sitting on deck beside Appa, almost exactly where he had left them. The change in clothes and fresh meals before them were the only indication that they had moved at all. Sokka crouched, hunched over a map or parchment as always, his finger marking his place. Katara sat cross-legged, a bowl of jook held in one hand as she stirred it lazily through waterbending motions with the other. Toph laid back on deck, her arms behind her head, the toes of one foot scratching her other shin.

"What's going on?" Aang said as he approached. Sokka and Katara looked up, quickly masking looks of apprehension with cheery smiles. Aang pretended not to notice.

"No matter what happens, we need to get close to Azula so that we can get close to Zuko," Sokka began as though they were already half-way through a conversation. Instantly Aang knew that they had continued discussing after he had left the previous night.

"But we don't know if her invitation was real or a trap to gather hostages." Katara said.

"So we're sending the ship and the Tribesman on ahead. They've agreed," Sokka nodded in the direction of the nearest sailors, "We'll follow along behind on Appa. If it's a trap, we'll see them get captured and follow. We can rescue them, bust Zuko out and be on our way."

"If it's not a trap," Katara said, "we land in the plaza like it was our-."

"Ahem!" Sokka cut in. Katara glared at him through her eyelashes. He grinned, "If it's not a trap, we make a grand entrance on Appa and land in the plaza like it was our plan all along."

"Sounds good," Aang sat down and pulled the last remaining bowl of jook towards him, "What's being done about Ozai and Azula?"

Katara and Sokka exchanged a look.

"If we kill her, it'll be an act of war," Sokka said, "but if she attacks us, or we see evidence of war preparations in the capitol, we can take that back to the Earth King and Chief Arnook and hopefully they'll reconsider."

"And then what? You hope they'll start the war first?" Aang said.

"Well it's not like we have any other options, Twinkletoes." Toph retorted. Aang felt his face heat and he looked away. When he looked back, the reproach had not entirely abated from either Sokka's or Katara's faces.

"Once we've rescued Fire Lord Hotman and convinced the rest of the world that Ozai and Azula really are bad guys, we can bring the Old Timer along with whatever army they give us. If the Zuko and Iroh take care of Ozai and Azula, it's not an act of war and everyone goes home happy," Toph sat up, "Well, except Snoozles, but he's never happy."

"Hey! What did I do?"

"Okay then," Aang said, "when do we start?"

"Right now." A shadow fell across their circle. Aang looked up to see Bato looming over them, several packs in his arms. He held them out and Sokka scrambled to his feet to take them.

"We're coming up on the Great Gates of Azulon," Bato said, "If you don't want to be seen, you'd better have left the ship by then."

Sokka and Aang nodded. Sokka took the packs and began loading them into Appa's saddle. Katara was clearing up the breakfast dishes. Toph was scrambling up onto Appa's back. With a grin, Aang sent a burst of air to give her a hand. She yelped. Aang winced as she landed with a thunk in Appa's saddle, but a moment later she was hanging back over the side and yelling.

"You ever do that again, Twinkletoes and I will crush you, you hear?!"

Sokka and Aang exchanged grins and then stifled snickers behind their hands. Katara looked undecided between amusement and exasperation.

Not ten minutes later, Aang was seated on Appa's head and shouting the familiar take-off call. Appa launched himself into the sky. The sea wind rushed about Aang, chilling his lips, nose and ears in an instant. Despite what was certain to be imminent danger, the squabbling with his friends and the innumerable other tasks that always seemed to be waiting for him on the ground, he couldn't help but smile. The wind buoyed him up and brushed away his problems and for a moment, just one moment, he was flying fresh and free.

Aang looked down, a smile still lighting his face. The ship dwindled until it was just a piece of driftwood floating in the blue, blue sea. Ahead of them, he could see the statues spaced across the ocean. But no claxon sounded as the Water Tribe vessel drew near and no jet skis droned out to meet it.

Aang nodded to himself, and with a shake of the reins he drove Appa higher, oblivious to the fact that his friends did not appreciate the brisk wind nearly as much as he.

"We better make ourselves look cloudy if we don't want them to see us." Sokka called from the saddle. An instant later, the air seemed to thicken around them as Katara called forth moisture and spun it into a fluffy white fog. She left a tunnel ahead so that Aang could see where he was going, but above, below and to either side was thick mist.

Conversation dwindled quickly. Sokka shushed them whenever they spoke at any volume that was loud enough to carry above the wind. With Aang sitting Appa's head and Katara bending, Sokka and Toph were the only ones able to strategize in whispers in the back of Appa's saddle.

Hours later, even their whispering died, and a glance behind Aang told him that they had fallen asleep. He smiled to himself and then faced front again. They must have been up much later than he. He wondered how far their plans really extended. If Sokka had had anything to do with it, there was probably a lot of plan. But a lot of it was probably crazy.

Ahead of Aang, a smudge on the horizon was growing into bluish land. Aang watched as bumpy mountains grew out of the smudge. The steep main island of the Fire Nation breeched the horizon. Up here, in the fresh cold, it was hard to imagine the sticky heat that he knew was coming below. Even the sun's warmth, which had occasionally managed to break through Katara's cloud shield, somehow seemed cleaner up here. Still, the Fire Nation grew larger and Aang knew he'd have to leave the safety of the air which bore him so faithfully.

Aang waited until they were hovering over the harbour before waking his companions. They had arrived a little ahead of the Water Tribe ship and now he was looking down, his breath tense in his throat, as it made its approach. Nothing had come out to meet it so far, but there was still the harbour boon to negotiate, and no telling what would happen once the ship was inside.

"Guys? We're here."

Katara, it seemed, did not have breath to spare for an answer. He could hear her inhaling and exhaling loudly behind him. She had been bending constantly for hours. He made a mental note to watch out for her, should it come to battle.

There was a loud yawn and the sound of a fist hitting flesh, then Sokka's muted exclamation of pain. There were scrambling sounds behind Aang and moments later Sokka appeared next to him, peering over his shoulder, down at the Water Tribe ship.

It had arrived at the boon gate.

There were no claxons. There were no jet skis. As with the Great Gates of Azulon, everything was perfectly still. Then there was a whistle and everyone jumped.

A great grinding and screeching floated up to them from the harbour below, and even as he screwed up his face against the noise, Aang saw that the boon gate was lowering. It jerked down, and then slid to half way. He blinked and it had disappeared below the water line. The Water Tribe ship slid through the gap like water through fingers.

A collective sigh was released by the occupants of Appa's saddle.

"It's not over yet." Katara muttered.

The ship slid into harbour and now there was movement. Like bull-ants, Fire Nation men were swarming from the walls and battlements, and from the other ships in the harbour. Several larger-looking men seemed to be directing the soldiers and sailors to form up in front of the ship. But they were not forming ranks. Instead, they appeared to be forming two columns. An honour guard? Aang frowned. It was good that they didn't look like they were organising for a fight. That probably meant the emissary story really was true. But that left him wondering why there were soldiers in the harbour at all. He hadn't seen any on his other post-war trips to the Fire Nation. He had thought Zuko had downsized the army and navy to the bare essentials.

By the looks of things, Azula was moving fast.

Blue-clad Water Tribesmen were bubbling off the ship one by one. Bato was in the lead, recognisable at this distance only by his height. Aang realised he was holding his breath again, and let it out a bit too loudly. He breathed deep and tried to ease the tension in his chest.

The others had said that the Water Tribe sailors had agreed to this plan, but that didn't change the fact that if it all went wrong they were still in for another long stint in a Fire Nation prison before someone could come to rescue them. Aang didn't like thinking about being responsible for that again.

Bato bowed to the man who stood at the head of the impromptu honour guard.

The Fire Nation leader bowed back.

A grin broke across Aang's face, "That's it!"

"What's it? What happened?" Toph asked from behind him.

"The Fire Nation greeted them as guests." Katara said.

"Alright! Take us down, Twinkletoes. If I don't get earth under my feet again soon I'm going to hit someone."

Still grinning, Aang let slack into Appa's reigns and they began to circle down toward the plaza. The cloud dissipated around them, leaving them clearly visible to the harbour below. As they passed low over the shore, several soldiers broke ranks to look or point upward. As they pulled into a landing a little way into the plaza, more soldiers were spilling from the surrounding towers to greet them.

A weight slid onto Appa's head beside him and a hand fell on his shoulder. Aang looked and saw Katara smiling at him. He returned the smile but a moment later her face had fallen. Following her gaze, he looked.

The soldiers were not forming an honour guard for them. They were surrounding Appa at least three deep on each side now, and far too many of them had weapons at the ready. Aang frowned.

"What do I do? Should I take off?" he muttered to Katara. She stared at him and opened her mouth to answer.

"Welcome, Avatar. Please dismount your bison." A voice rang from the crowd. Aang glanced down to see an officer - though he didn't think it was the same one who had greeted Bato - staring up at him from next to Appa's left ear. The man carried no weapon, which probably meant he was a bender. Aang frowned for a moment. Then with a burst of air, he propelled himself to the ground, landing nimbly. He straightened up and looked at the officer.

"Please surrender all weapons and bending materials." The officer said. Aang heard three thuds behind him as Sokka, Katara, and Toph dismounted. The soldiers seemed to close ranks around them.

"Riiiight… Sure." Aang said. He took a deep breath. Every man tensed before him. But he exhaled with no greater force than normal and grinned up at the soldier, "All done! Now what?"

The man stared down at him, his face unmoving. But from behind him, Aang heard Toph's snicker.

Following his lead, Sokka and Katara came forward and gave up water skins and boomerang and sword respectively. Toph stepped forward to stand next to Aang, and only after she had done so did he realise why. The soldiers had closed in further, almost completely separating the four of them from Appa and their escape route. Though no weapons had been drawn, Aang started to feel more and more apprehensive. They had not been placed under arrest… yet.

"We will escort you to the palace city. Remain calm." The officer instructed. Immediately the soldiers around them sidestepped or moved forward. Many of them hardly seemed to move at all, but must have done as soon they were all facing the far end of the plaza, still surrounding the quartet and Appa separately. At a command from the officer, they began to march.

Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Toph had no choice but to march with them.

They walked the length of the boulevard and mounted the steps to the tower. The cloying heat pressed in around them all now that they were no longer airborne. It was as though the clouds above ensconced them as closely as the soldiers on the ground.

A moment of cool respite was afforded them as they walked through the tower proper, and then they were out into the lower city.

The whole place hummed with activity. Crowds of people parted like curtains in the face of their ranked escort, and despite their outlandish appearance, Aang saw only one or two curious gazes directed their way. On the contrary, most of the people seemed like they were avoiding looking at the procession as it marched on by.

"What's going on?" Katara whispered in his ear, but a moment later she had dropped back to wave at a pointing child, who was quickly spirited away in his mother's arms. Toph took Katara's place.

"Do you smell smoke?" she muttered. Aang sniffed hard, earning himself several glances from the nearest soldiers. They lost time with the rest of the procession for a moment, but then fell straight back into the rhythm. Aang looked away from them, at the sky.

"Yeah," he muttered back, stooping slightly to Toph's height, "There're factories burning coal to the east. I can see the stacks."

"Zuko closed down those factories." Toph muttered.

Aang nodded and then added "yeah."

Now that it had caught his attention, Aang couldn't help but see signs everywhere; Zuko's reign was done. Their escort was not the only group of soldiers wandering the streets. Everyone seemed to be hurrying this way or that as though reluctant to be out at all. Nobody looked at anybody else. There was no laughter. The coloured streamers and street performers, portable carts of spiced foods and gaggles of laughing children that had overrun the city during the celebrations and festivals in the days after the war had vanished as though they had never been. There was no music.

Aang frowned and looked down at his feet.

At last their path began to turn upward and they began the switch-backed trek to the palace city. It seemed that whatever their destination, it was closer to Zuko than the harbour. That was one good thing at least. But what if Zuko wasn't in the city's prison tower? What if he was in the Boiling Rock? What if they'd come to entirely the wrong place? Try as he might, Aang couldn't figure out a plan for how they were going to get out of this situation. The more he thought about it, the more he realised that getting off of Appa's back in the first place had been a bad idea. He could mount up in a second, but by the time the others had joined him, they'd be kindling.

He slowed, dropping back to walk next to Sokka.

"You have any ideas for how to fix this one?" Aang asked.

"Hey, I was following your lead." Sokka replied. He tried for a grin but it didn't reach his eyes.

Within ten minutes they had reached the crest of the hill. Aang tried to ignore the rather charred-looking bushes by the roadside and faced front. He bit his lip as though doing so would bite down on his curiosity; what had happened here?

As though determined that he should stand as long as possible in what he now saw was a battle ground, an order was shouted and their company stopped.

"Take the bison and lemur to the royal stables. See that they are well tended." The ranking officer gave the order over Aang's head. Before he had turned, the crunching of boots told him that the soldiers surrounding Appa had already begun to obey. Appa let out a moan.

"It's ok buddy," Aang turned as far as he could without shifting his stance, desperate to catch Appa's eye and offer him some form of assurance, "I'll be ok." His hand rose and found the familiar lump of the bison whistle beneath his robes. The cool ceramic rested against his chest. Appa subsided. Two soldiers took his reins and he submitted himself to being led over the crest of the hill.

The commanding officer waited until Appa and Momo had completely disappeared before attempting the narrow descent into the crater with his now far-smaller company. Within the crater walls, the signs of battle were far more obvious.

As they made their way down the switch-backed stair, Aang could see that many of the nearest houses had roof tiles missing. One unlucky house had an entire golden-coloured eave hanging off of it. On the ground, many of the buildings they passed showed charred scoring or damage to the masonry. The only people about seemed to be either soldiers on patrol or servants who were working to repair damaged property. A glance through a large archway showed Aang what had once been a park now charred free of grass. The soil lay ashen around one of the few remaining trees, whose head still stood high and green above while the trunk was burnt black below. Aang suppressed a shudder at the strangeness of it all and kept walking.

The palace loomed over them, and Aang had a moment's relief as he realised they were not being taken directly to prison. A moment later it was gone though. What if they were just going to be executed? He'd have to fight. He'd have to kill. He'd have-.

They crossed the threshold. Walking familiar hallways, Aang couldn't help noticing that many of the artworks glorifying the war and its perpetrators had been returned to their previous positions of honour on the palace walls. Zuko had removed as many as he could, but had not destroyed them, it seemed. Along the royal gallery they went, with portraits after portrait of previous Fire Lords looming over them. At some point their escort appeared to have halved, though Aang couldn't say when it had happened. That was one good thing at least. There'd be few casualties if it came to a fight.

At the end of the gallery, he stopped dead. A new portrait had been added. A portrait that's figure was wreathed in blue flames.

"Azula..."

"Fire Lord Azula." A gruff voice corrected. Aang glanced around but saw only a masked face, then the man jabbed him in the back and he stumbled back into a walk.

Two soldiers held a curtained door ahead of them aside. Their escort fell away. Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Toph entered the Fire Lord's throne room.

As it had been in days gone by, the room was lit only by flames. But whereas during Zuko's reign, it had been filled with a warm and almost welcoming orange glow, the room now shone dark and blue. The line of fire that separated the throne from the rest of the room burnt brilliant and blue. Aang did not need to make out the face of the shadowy figure who occupied that throne. The flames were more than enough.

"Emissaries of foreign nations." This voice too was gruff, but far more familiar. Aang snapped his head around so fast that the muscles in his neck twinged. It was that same haughty face, those same high cheekbones, and those same sunlit eyes that somehow carried no warmth. Ozai was dressed in rich russet. He wore a topknot unadorned. But he was smirking down at Aang. Aang gritted his teeth.

"The Fire Lord welcomes you to the Fire Nation and hopes you enjoy her hospitality. You may now present your gifts."

"Gifts?" Katara said from behind Aang.

"What gifts?" Toph added.

"Customarily a new Fire Lord is presented with gifts by all dignitaries both domestic and foreign," Ozai curled his lip, "however given your nations' respective financial positions, I am sure the Fire Lord will be most forgiving should you have forgone this particular courtesy. A show of respect may suffice."

"What if we don't want to show respect?" Toph jeered.

Ozai's eyes narrowed and he bared his teeth. Behind him, the flames roared. Heat washed over Aang's face.

"Bow." Ozai hissed.

There was an intake of breath behind him, but Aang cut Toph off, "It's alright, Toph." And without so much as looking at the throne before him, Aang placed a fist against his palm and gave a traditional Air Nomad bow. He would fake respect if it meant they wouldn't go to prison, but he wasn't going to do it like an obedient Fire Nation citizen.

The flames subsided, and then died. The figure rose from the throne. Aang glared.

"Welcome Avatar, emissaries of the Water Tribe, emissary of the Earth Kingdom." Her voice was as smooth as a freshly polished blade, and just as sharp. Aang could not unclench his jaw.

"It had been my hope that you would deliver my traitorous uncle to me by way of a coronation present-,"

"Not a chance." Toph muttered.

"-However, no matter. I'm certain he'll deliver himself to me in time."

Ozai cleared his throat. Azula shot him a look.

"I had further hoped that our greeting would be a more… personal one, however I have pressing matters to attend to. You will be escorted to your rooms. I would advise you not to explore the city too widely; however the palace is yours for the afternoon. You are of course invited to take dinner with me this evening." She waved, and once again they were flanked by soldiers. The men turned to face the exit and began hustling them out. Aang was once again left with no choice but to walk with them.

It all happened so fast and right away he found himself wishing he had said more. He should have confronted her about Zuko right then. Why were people just accepting her as Fire Lord? Why weren't people fighting it?

He hardly noticed the route they were taking through the palace. It was dark and strange and within five minutes he looked up to realise he had no idea where he was. Never before had he visited this part of the palace. Then all at once they had been deposited before a door whose frame was wreathed in gold leaf. The door itself, a departure from the curtains that sealed many of the rooms with which Aang _was_ familiar, was panelled in a deep burgundy silk. Aang had a moment to stare at it in bewilderment before a couple of cowled servants pushed it open to reveal dim chambers. Aang recoiled but was hurried forward by Toph bumping into his back.

"C'mon Twinkletoes."

He entered the room. It was sparsely furnished when you considered its size, and particularly in comparison to the opulence of its entryway. Two beds stood against the far wall, with one more along each side. But the low lighting and heavy red drapes left the whole place feeling far too closed for Aang's taste. Even his cell back in the Southern Air Temple had felt more spacious than this.

Toph, Katara and Sokka did not seem to have noticed and were already staking their claims on the beds. Aang walked over to the last remaining and sat on its edge, watching his friends. At length, whatever muttered conversation they had been having during the walk died, and they all looked to Aang.

"Now what?" Toph asked.

"Well, we've got all afternoon," Aang injected a false cheeriness into his voice, "we could go visit Zuko."

"Not that I'm against breaking rules, but I'm pretty sure that counts as 'exploring the city too widely,'" Toph mimicked.

"Weeeell…" Sokka was tapping his chin and staring at the ceiling in mock thought, "technically she only _suggested_ we shouldn't go out of the palace." He leant forward, eyes gleaming.

"Besides," Katara added, "we need to check he's actually okay."

"You're right, we do." Aang said, and then forcing cheerfulness into his voice once more, he added, "Let's go!"

A gust of air assisted Aang to his feet and he hurried for the door, all too eager to get out into the open air again. The others trailed along behind him.

___________

Zuko could no longer tell when he slept and when he woke. His dreams consisted of filtered light and cross-hatched bars. When he woke, his thoughts drifted always to dim bed chambers, burning bedclothes and the cold fire. And over it all, he ached.

He had given up on keeping track of the days immediately upon waking. He could have been unconscious for two or twenty and no-one would tell him. All he really knew was that he still lived, and he was beginning to believe that this was in fact _not_ a mercy on his father's or sister's part, but rather a punishment.

He lay on his cot and stared at the ceiling. His midday meal had been delivered but he had not eaten. He was hungry. The food was not bad. A small part of him said he should keep his strength up. A smaller part of him said he would need it for when – _if_ his friends came for him. But somehow, he could not muster the energy to rise.

The door to his cell squeaked on its hinges. Zuko rolled his eyes up to glance at the high slitted window. It was still light out, too early for the evening meal. He braced himself for the subsequent squeak of the cage door. He was probably in for another 'session.'

"Hey Zuko!"

Zuko froze. He knew the voice. He had not expected its owner to come walking sedately into his prison cell. He rolled onto his side and gazed at the four people standing before him; four people he had almost convinced himself he would never see again.

"Hey."

"You look terrible." Katara's voice seemed so small, almost a squeak. Zuko raised a hand to brush the bruising around his throat, now old. It was better they couldn't see the rest of it. But he could not hide the wince as he sat up.

"What happened to you?" Katara asked.

Zuko almost rolled his eyes.

"I was overthrown."

"Yeah, but…" Aang stopped and fell silent.

"Hey, it could've been worse," Sokka said, "considering who we're talking about. Glad to see you're okay."

"You haven't eaten." Katara said.

"Not hungry." Zuko grunted.

"Don't lie." Toph retorted.

"You have to eat Zuko," Katara sounded so earnest, "you have to keep your strength up."

"What for?"

"For when we get you out of here." Aang's voice sounded so certain. Zuko rolled so that his back was turned to them, so that they could not see his face.

"Zuko-…" Katara's voice.

"Leave." He muttered at the wall.

"Come on Jerkbender-."

"LEAVE!"

Feet shuffled. Toph muttered a parting quip. The cell door squeaked shut behind him.

___________

"Why would he just send us away like that?"

Sokka spared a glance from his mirror at the sound of Katara's voice, "He's Zuko. Being an angry jerk's what he does." He replied.

She was across the room, similarly engrossed in her reflection as she tried to fix her hair. They had all forgotten Azula's 'invitation' to dinner and had only been reminded of it by a stern looking guard once they re-entered their room. Choices in clothing, all in Fire Nation colours, had been laid out for them, but Sokka had stubbornly refused to oblige the hint. Turning back to his mirror, he straightened his best blue tunic one last time and grinned at his reflection.

"Or, ya know, the fact that he's just been overthrown could have something to do with it." Toph said from her bed. She had refused the Fire Nation attire as well, although Sokka wasn't sure if it was a show of national pride or just her preference for the less-formal outfits someone had packed for her. He stared at her a moment, wondering what she'd look like done up in those fancy reds and pinks. He shook his head. Even sprawled on a bed picking her toes, she looked better in a nice healthy Earth Kingdom green.

There was a knock at the door. Out of old habit, Sokka's hand went to his sword hilt. Too late, he remembered that their weapons, along with their packs, had not yet been returned to them.

A guard entered. With a puff of air, Aang pushed himself off his bed. Katara flanked him on one side. Sokka hurried to join them.

"Dinner will be served shortly." The guard was curt. He spun on his heel and walked from the room. Sokka looked over Aang's head to exchange a glance with Katara. They hesitated. But Aang had already fallen into step following the guard. Sokka started after him and, glancing over his shoulder, made sure Toph was following close.

They were led back through the mazes of halls. Sokka's gaze was drawn from gleaming blade to gleaming blade, all of which had passed in a whirl the first time they had been led this way. The afternoon had seen them take a different, more meandering route back to familiar territory – the palace gardens – before they'd oriented themselves enough to exit the palace. Now, in the flickering light and with the walls covered in dark fabric the way they were he couldn't be sure, but he thought some of the blades were still stained dark. He frowned.

He hadn't visited the Fire Nation after the war more than twice, but even he had seen the changes Zuko had wrought. As big as the palace was, he _knew_ there hadn't been these kinds of wall-to-wall displays of arms during Zuko's reign. For some reason, the guy preferred paintings and tapestries or even bare walls. Sokka had guessed it was just because he'd spent years of his life on a metal tub, but now he began to wonder otherwise.

Sokka was a warrior. He would never shrink from displays of strength, especially as the stuff hanging on the walls was probably put there just to try to scare him. But he had to admit that the sheer number of trophies the Fire Nation seemed willing to display was a little intimidating. Looking around, he saw Katara almost shrinking back into the group. Aang's gaze seemed to be resolutely fixed on the back of their guide. Only Toph was unaffected. Sokka grinned. Of course she was. All she had to do was trail her fingers along the wall and an entire display would be left as little more than shredded-…

The scent of snail-oyster sauce and lemon water heralded their arrival in the dining hall. Sokka inhaled deeply as they crossed the threshold, and then wrinkled his nose.

This room was larger than their bed chamber and by far more spacious, holding only a round banquet table. It was lighter in here. Sconces brimmed with fire at regular intervals but the walls were still shrouded in burgundy silk. Directly opposite from their entry point, hung an enormous painting showing three figures. The first held a proud posture as she hurled lightening at the second, who lay dishevelled, the livid scar over his left eye distorting his face almost beyond recognition. He cowered in front of the third as though to protect her from the oncoming lightening. She – Sokka could only guess it was supposed to be a she – was a barbarian, dressed in dirty white furs with her face almost completely obscured by brown dreads. Only her eyes, so bright a blue they looked mad, shone through.

Toph shoved Sokka in the back.

"What?" She said, breaking the reverie.

Sokka gave himself a little shake and glared at the painting. Their guide had drawn ahead of them. He, Katara and Aang had stopped in the doorway to stare.

"Nothing." He shook himself again and started after the guard, head held high. The man had stopped next to six empty cushions on the opposite side of the table.

Sokka took the seat indicated and pulled Toph down next to him. One cushion lay between her and the raised dais that sat directly opposite the door. Aang was seated on the other side of this and Katara on the other side of him. Sokka scowled around the table. He didn't like having this much space between them. If it came to a confrontation, they'd be easily separated.

He did not have much time to brood, however. The table around them was already filled with russet-robed strangers. As soon as Katara took her seat, a gong sounded. Sokka looked toward the door just in time to see Ozai make his entrance. The evil overlord swept around the table and into his seat right next to Toph. Sokka took a moment to scowl but then whipped his gaze back to the entrance.

Walking as though she were treading on glass and was determined to reduce every fragment to a fine powder, Fire Lord Azula took her sweet time taking her seat on the dais next to Aang. Sokka only watched her half way round the room. By the time she had reached old Blackbeard sitting a quarter-table left of Katara, the smells of food had become so overwhelming that Sokka's gaze was once again fixed on the door.

He could smell fish, fish and black-bean sauce. He squirmed in his seat, earning himself a thump in the thigh from Toph. Unless it was eel-squid. He licked his lips. It had been too long since he'd had a good fried eel-squid. He could almost taste the breaded batter sliding off those juicy tentacles right onto his tongue; almost feel the plump flesh giving way between his teeth.

Azula was talking. Something about a welcome. Men were pouring drinks. They seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. Everyone was raising their cups in a toast. Sokka hurried to follow suit and drank.

The wine tasted of cinnamon and apples and had been slightly warmed so that it seemed to take all his tension with it as it slid down his throat.

"Mm." Sokka licked a stray drop from his lip.

"Good, isn't it?" the man next to him said, "From my own vineyards. An honour to be served at such a meal." The smile on the man's face was almost sincere.

"Yeah." Sokka set the cup down on the table and instantly glared at it. The wine had not been overly spiced. Nor had it tasted too strongly of alcohol, but he couldn't shake the feeling that it was meant to put him off his guard.

"My name is Tanu of the Ki family."

Sokka turned and gave the man a more appraising look. His hairline was receding and there were laugh-lines about his mouth, their cause quite clearly the almost-sincere smile he still wore. But his eyes mirrored Sokka's own expression: Cold and appraising.

"Sokka, son of Hakoda, Chief of the Southern Water Tribe." Sokka said. Despite himself, he couldn't help glancing across the table at Katara. Even as she was locked in conversation with the stranger next to her, she still managed to smirk his way. No matter how many dinners like this they attended, she'd never let him forget the first, where he'd forgone his official title and just introduced himself as a prince.

He smiled lazily at the memory. She could mock all she wanted. It had been worth it.

"Your reputation precedes you. Warrior for your Tribe, war hero, and now emissary to the Fire Nation," Tanu was saying.

"Uh… Yeah…" Sokka avoided looking at the man and so was first to spy the silent servers coming in with the first course. He sat up, almost craning his neck to catch first glimpse of the dish, then remembered the man sitting next to him, "Actually, my sister's the official emissary. Yeah, Katara. Maybe you've heard of her; daughter of the Chief of the Southern Water Tribe, master waterbender, Avatar's waterbending teacher? Yup. She's the emissary. I'm just here for the food." And right on cue, a plate was deposited in front of him.

His neighbour's smile had faltered, and for a moment a sneer took its place. Sokka grinned his most charming grin, picked up his chopsticks, and stabbed at his dumpling. He popped the morsel into his mouth and chewed with eyes closed, fully aware of the looks – some startled, others disgusted – directed his way.

Sokka savoured the dumpling, and no sooner had he swallowed and set his chopsticks down, then his empty plate was whisked away to be replaced with a steaming beef-pig soup. Sokka lifted the gold-leafed bowl and sniffed with eyes closed. Rosemary, cabbage and leechee nuts assaulted his sense. There was something else too. He sniffed again, his head listing slightly to his right; red peppers? Who in their right mind served red peppers in a beef-pork soup?

Sokka opened his eyes. Around the table, Aang was lifting chopsticks laden with noodles from a green soup. Sokka's eyes widened. His gaze swept the table. A ring of beef soup steamed before him.

"Aang! Don't eat that!"

Aang's noodles plopped back into his soup, "What? Why?"

"Uh… I want some!"

"But Sokka, this's a vegetarian dish."

"Yeah. And I want some. Hand it over."

"But-…"

"Are you a monk or not? Didn't they teach you about sharing at the Air Temples? I've had a change of heart and I need you to help me along in my new not-meat-eating crazy by giving me your soup."

People had begun to stare. Ozai was looking between the two of them with a scowl. Azula, on the other hand, appeared faintly amused.

Aang heaved a sigh, "Fine."

He handed the soup off to a server who brought it around to Sokka. The man deposited the plate with great show and then bustled off, his step silent.

Sokka wasted no time. He dug into the soup, pulling out noodles and celery and the promised red peppers and stuffing them into his mouth. Sweat began beading on his forehead as the stinging heat began on his tongue. It seemed to simmer there and then spread all in a rush down his throat as he swallowed. He coughed quietly.

"Right. That's good. Here." He sputtered, offering the plate back to Aang. A look of utter bewilderment on his face, Aang took the bowl back without complaint and began to eat.

Still smirking, Azula leaned toward Sokka from her dais and spoke around her father, "Really Sokka. Do you honestly think we would poison the Avatar, our guest of honour?"

Toph snorted, "Wouldn't put it past you."

"The Earthbender forgets that should the Avatar die, he will simply reincarnate," Ozai cut in. His gaze remained fixedly on the door as though he weren't addressing Toph at all. "Efficient though the Fire Lord may be, the intention was never to kill the Avatar."

Toph looked momentarily surprised, and then her familiar grin blossomed on her face.

"Whatever you say, Loser Lord."

"You dishonour the throne by the disrespect you show to your betters in her presence."

"Right. I'll remember that if I ever meet any betters."

Sokka snickered but stopped when he saw the ugly look twisting Ozai's face. He turned his attention back to his plate.

Sokka's attention waxed and waned between courses. Thankfully, Tanu of the Ki family seemed just as eager to avoid further small talk as he did, and under cover of stuffing his face, Sokka was able to do some quiet reconnaissance of the table's occupants. They all seemed to be advisors in some capacity, or people who wanted something and were likely to get it. That meant they were all supporters of Ozai and Azula; enemies. Most avoided his gaze when he tried to engage them, and so he found no hint of a possibly ally in the room. With a sigh, he buried himself in a seaweed and fish dish which, despite sounding like it was more suited to his palate, could not have been more different from home fare.

"-Disappointed to hear you chose to visit the prison tower this afternoon." Azula was saying to Aang. Sokka's attention piqued. She didn't sound disappointed. Her voice was tight and cold. The hand that currently gripped a small bowl of rice was clenched so tightly, Sokka wondered how her talon-like nails didn't chip the porcelain.

"Just wanted to see if he was doing ok." Aang replied.

"You will refrain from such liberties again," Ozai said. "While we would regret restricting your movements, honouring a prisoner in such a way confuses the people. This cannot be allowed. Zuko is not worth your time."

"Actually, he's one of the main reasons I'm here." Aang replied.

Ozai's lip curled, "Such matters are better suited to later council discussions. Now, however, would you care to retire for drinks?"

"Uh…" Aang looked over and met Sokka's gaze. Sokka shook his head a fraction of an inch.

"I don't drink." Aang said.

"I d-!"

"No you don't!" Sokka cut Toph off.

"We're pretty tired actually," Katara said hurriedly, "We'll probably just go back to our rooms if that's alright." She was smiling her sweetest, most gracious smile, the kind that usually came before a liberal application of her water whip.

"Very well." Ozai snapped, "You will be escorted. For your safety, a guard will be assigned throughout the night."

Azula rose with Ozai only a moment behind her. They headed out a side door and within moments advisors and dignitaries had begun to file after them into what must have been some kind of sitting room. Soon, Aang, Katara, Sokka and Toph were the only ones left sitting around the table.

"For our safety," Toph scoffed, "Yeah right."

___________

The rising sun called Aang from sleep long before he was ready to wake. He rolled over, for a moment unaware that the heat in his face came from within and not from a sunlit window. When the knowledge that his firebending had once again woken him finally surfaced in his sleep-addled mind, he grimaced and pushed himself out of bed.

He stirred the stale air of the bedchamber as he rose. It ruffled around his body and helped propel him from bed to the centre of the room, where he could feel less cramped. With a glance he knew the windows to this particular bedroom did not open.

He did not have long to enjoy his space, however. Over the snores of his still-sleeping friends, he heard a soft knock at the door. Without waiting for a signal, a guard entered the room. Aang knuckled his eyes.

"Good morning," he yawned.

"The Avatar is summoned to a breakfast council alone." The guard said, staring at a point over Aang's left shoulder. Aang idly wondered where the Fire Nation learnt this trick of talking to no-one.

"Right. OK then. When?"

"Immediately."

It took a moment for the words to sink in, and then Aang sighed and, turning back toward his bed, shrugged on yesterday's tunic and his beaded necklace. He ran a hand over his scalp and decided that shaving could wait until after breakfast, 'lead the way!'

They were the same dark twisting corridors that seemed to close in over him, the same walls plastered with lethal weapon after lethal weapon, and the same route for all Aang knew. He couldn't understand how a palace could change so fast. The rooms Zuko had given him had been light and airy. If this was supposed to be hospitality, Azula wasn't very good at it.

It was this thought that circled around his mind as he entered the Fire Lord's council chamber. The throne was once again obscured by blue flame which, despite the icy shadows it sent round the room, left the air stifling. A rectangular table had been placed in the centre of the floor and men were seated around it. Aang took the last available cushion and looked around. He recognised some of the face from the previous evening but then they had been relaxed and almost indulgent. Now they stared stonily across the table at one another and didn't spare him as much as a glance.

There was a rustling of robes on the dais. The men around the table bowed. Aang quickly followed suit but had only just bowed his head when his companions raised theirs.

"Proceed," Azula's voice echoed from behind the curtain of flame.

"We will first deal with the matter of-," Ozai's voice drew Aang's attention to the opposite end of the table. He found himself leaning forward to get a look at his long-time enemy, the man's face almost silhouetted against the blue flames. Aang watched the shadow of that pointed beard move up and down as Ozai spoke and belatedly realised he had missed most of what had been said.

Another man was talking now, though haltingly. Aang wondered why he seemed so afraid. Ozai couldn't bend. It was Azula they should really be afraid of, but Aang couldn't see her or what she thought of whatever they were talking about. He stared up at the flames, blue tongues dancing around white cores. They were almost pretty, like the ice in the North Pole when the light got caught in it. But that light felt so much warmer. Aang shivered and then wondered why. The warmth of the room was swathed around him so tightly it was as though he were swaddled in a soft feather bed. He was dimly aware of people bustling around behind him. Were they serving food? Yes, he could smell egg custard tart.

That roused him somewhat, and he looked down to see a tiny tartlet on his plate. Still nodding and swaying slightly, he picked at the food. His jaw moved lazily so that he was still eating long after the clatter of the others had ceased penetrating the down blanket that seemed to be fogging all his senses.

He kept catching the odd phrase of conversation, each one accompanied with a slight jump as his chin fell to his chest and he shook himself awake.

"-quell uprisings must be paramount-,"

Azula had staged an uprising. He should be quelling her. But how was he supposed to do it?

"-secure supply lines to prevent sympathy-,"

Nobody here knew anything about sympathy.

"-the matter of a suitor-,"

Aang jerked his head up as his chin once again met his chest. A grin sprawled across his face. Were they talking about trying to get Azula married?

But men were moving now. Plates were being cleared and councillors were filing for the exit. Only Ozai remained. Aang got up.

"The Fire Lord requests that the Avatar remain." Someone called. Aang stopped mid-step and heaved a sigh, then turned back toward the throne with its intoxicating heat. He gave an Air Nomad bow.

"Fire Lord."

There was rustling and movement once more behind the flames. Then they parted and Azula descended the steps toward him with the same purposeful stride she seemed to use everywhere. He felt the urge to take a step back as she approached, but he firmed his lip and held his ground. She was smiling.

"If the attention you gave my council was typical, Avatar, it is little wonder the world is falling into disrepair."

"It's not falling into disrepair!" He retorted. His mind still felt heavy with sleep and he couldn't shake that unnerved feeling that came from thousands of Azula-shadows sweeping around the room with every flicker of flame. He cast a glance around for Ozai, and found him standing with his back to a pylon, also smirking.

Azula was laughing.

"Save your delusions then. We have more important things to discuss."

"Like what?"

"As I'm sure you're unaware given you're lack of attention during council, several Fire Nation citizens and 'volunteers' from various nations have taken up opposition to my rule."

"Uh… No, I didn't know that." He tried to keep his expression guarded, as though it were Koh he were facing, but a smirk still played about her lips all the same.

"I will require your support in ensuring that my reign remains unchallenged."

"Support? What do you mean?"

"You are the Avatar. It is your task to keep spiritual balance and peace, a task at which thus far you have failed abysmally. The actions of these militants threaten that balance. I have neither the time nor the resources to resolve the issue. You must help me."

"You're the one threatening the balance!"

To his surprise, she laughed again.

He narrowed his eyes, "I've seen the factories. I know what you're planning. I won't support you."

"Do not be a fool."

"You stole the throne from Zuko. You have to step down."

"You address the rightful and anointed heir to the Fire Nation! She won an Agni Kai against her brother for the throne when she struck him down with lightening! It was only the interference of your waterbender that allowed Zuko to usurp the throne," Ozai detached himself from the pylon and loomed over Aang, "Who are you to gainsay thousands of years of Fire Nation customs, boy!?"

Despite himself, Aang rocked back on his heels. He saw now why the councillors showed Ozai deference. Bending or no, he was still a formidable figure. And he was angry. Aang turned his attention to Azula, "If you don't step down, I'll take your bending away!"

"You could do that, but it won't help," she turned her back and laced her fingers behind her, standing silhouetted for a moment facing her own flames. "I'll just find some other poor bending sap to sit on the throne while I rule from behind them. Who knows? I might even use Zuzu. So long as he thinks he's in charge, he won't make a fuss, and the people will always follow me over him."

"You don't know that."

"Yes. I do." She turned her head, her profile lit so that through that horrible, smirking mouth the firelight shone off her white, white teeth. Aang clenched his fists. Just as he was about to turn and leave, she turned back and met his gaze, a smirk still playing around the corners of her pink lips.

"Face it Avatar. The only way you are going to defeat me is if you kill me." She turned again and walked away from him, back up the steps to her throne. When she reached the top she waved a hand. "We're done for now. Zuko's fate can wait until tomorrow morning."

Aang gritted his teeth and threw Ozai one last look. The man was smiling; not just smiling, grinning. His face was lit with such mirth and for the life of him, Aang could not understand what was so funny. He spun on his heel, wind whipping around his body, and headed out of the war room.

"Where have you been?!" Sokka was standing in front of him as soon as he re-entered their room, "This isn't the Water Tribes! You can't just go wandering off!" Breakfast dishes were littered about behind him and Katara was still seated by them. Aang side-stepped Sokka and looked at Katara instead.

"Azula wanted me to sit in on a council meeting," he said wearily. His eyes fell on the food. That egg custard tart seemed a long time ago.

"They didn't want us?" Sokka demanded.

Aang breezed past him and took a seat, pulling what looked like a fruit salad toward him.

"No. Just me."

"Oh." And then, "How did it go?"

"Not good. She wants me to support her rule."

"What? You can't be serious!" Katara got to her feet and began pacing toward the mirror and bundling up her hair as though it had been the one to cause her offense, "she's probably just baiting you. She knows you wouldn't."

Sokka was eyeing him more shrewdly, "What did you say?"

"I told her I'd take her bending away, but she didn't seem to care. She just said she'd find some other firebender to sit on the throne with her controlling them. She said I'd have to… Kill her." He looked down at his salad.

There was a long silence.

"Well that just got interesting," Toph said from where she lounged against a wall, "you think maybe you wanna start from the beginning?"

And so he told them of the early morning summons, the meeting, the heat and his private conversation with Azula and Ozai.

"Well…" Katara started, "We always knew it might come to this Aang. Look on the bright side," he felt a hand fall on his shoulder and resisted the urge to shrug her off. "You're a firebender too. You can challenge her to an Agni Kai. If you win, this whole civil war will be over before it even starts."

"I don't _want_ to kill her Katara! Not her or anyone else!"

"Aang-,"

"Maybe you don't have to." Sokka cut her off. Aang's gaze snapped round to look at him and he saw Katara watching too. Sokka was partially facing away from them, his hand stroking his chin the way it always had done when he was mulling over an idea. Aang's breath caught.

"She said if she couldn't bend anymore, she'd just find some other bender and use them…"

"Yeah, so?"

"So, what do you think Ozai's doing here? She thinks she's come up with this brilliant plan, but someone's already beaten her to it!" Sokka's face split into a grin.

"I don't know…" Katara said.

"Snoozles is right," Toph pushed herself off the wall and took a step forward.

"The Fire Nation nobles aren't idiots." Sokka scoffed. Toph glared, "They can't let Ozai back on the throne 'cause he's not a bender, but there's no way they'd let Lord Crazy rule by herself after what she did last time. Besides, were you guys even paying attention last night? He spoke for her half the time. He spoke more than she did. That's got to be what's going on, and everyone knows it. Everyone except her."

"Hey yeah…" Aang said, "It was like that this morning too. The only time I remember her speaking was at the end when she was just talking to me. And then-!" it was as though someone was breathing hope back into him. It filled him up more than any meal ever could and he could feel the beginnings of a grin starting on his face again, "When I went to leave, after she'd said all that stuff, Ozai was laughing. I couldn't figure out what was so funny."

"Figures." Toph muttered.

"So all we have to do," Sokka spun slowly in a circle, staring at each of them in turn with a manic look in his eye, "Is let Lord Crazy know what's going on. Then she and Ozai can take care of each other!"

"Yeah, there's your problem." Toph said. Sokka's face fell.

"Even if Ozai was dumb enough to fight Lord Crazy, she's gonna win. He can't bend. And then we just have one crazy Fire Lord on our hands without anyone holding her leash."

Aang took the following silence to pop a slice of pawpaw between his teeth. They all seemed to be mulling it over.

"OK. So it's not a perfect plan,' Sokka began again, 'But short of Aang pumping them both full of lightening," Aang cringed as Sokka threw him a look, "it's the best plan we've got. When's your next audience with Lord Crazy?"

"Uh," Aang faltered as all attention suddenly turned to him, "Tomorrow. I'm trying to negotiate Zuko's release."

A collective wince ran around the room. Sokka was the first to recover.

"We'll start before then, then. And tomorrow, we're coming with you. For this to work, you're going to need all the help you can get."

___________

___________

AN: This chapter is incredibly late for two reasons. The first is that I went abroad for seven weeks. The second is that it was originally much longer, but I realised that it was in fact too long and I only had to add two scenes to make it two chapters. That means not a lot of interesting stuff ended up happening in this one. It also means that I have the next one already written and just have to edit a third of it so it's fit to post. And I promise, if it is half as fun to read as it was to write, chapter four alone will be well worth the wait.

I practised my own editing and beta-reading skills on this chapter, so sorry if there was a noticeable drop in the quality. Also! Next chapter, some proper Z/K interaction.


	4. Chapter 4

For the second night running, Katara found herself in front of a mirror dressed in formal garb of the Fire Nation. For the second night running, her hair seemed to be snarled by the humidity beyond all help. It was, she reflected, a frustration she did not need on top of everything else that had happened.

They had spent the afternoon on tour of the capitol with Azula, Ozai and a creepy old woman named Li. Katara, having toured the capitol multiple times with Aang, Zuko and Toph, had prepared herself for an afternoon of monotony. What she had got had been far worse. Everywhere there were signs of war. Factories were pumping thick smoke into the air, and each one seemed to be geared for war. This one was for munitions. That one was for airship assembly. When Aang had ventured to ask why there was a need for this factory or that, the answer had always been the same: homeland security.

As if that wasn't enough, Sokka had taken every opportunity imaginable to _compliment_ the Fire Nation's ingenuity. He had even requested for a tour of the airship factory, and had of course been denied. Katara wouldn't have minded so much – Sokka had always been a bit of a tinkerer – except that he seemed determined to attribute every little invention to _Azula's_ reign.

Toph had been just as unbearable. Katara was hard pressed to think of a single comment that the younger girl had made throughout the whole afternoon that hadn't somehow ended up as an insult to Ozai. Katara couldn't blame her. The guy had tried to burn Toph's whole nation to the ground. Just sharing a palanquin with him had made Katara feel ill. But with every comment, Ozai's jaw seemed to tighten.

Katara cast a look Toph's way. She was once again crumpling her evening wear as she sprawled on the bed. She looked like she was even wearing the same dress. Katara scowled. If Toph kept going the way she was Ozai would end up strangling her with his bare hands. If it went on much longer, Katara would have to say something, accusations of motherliness or none.

For the second night running, a guard entered uninvited after the briefest of knocks. Katara glared. He didn't seem to realise or care that she or Toph could have been emerging indecently clothed from the room's one bathroom. He ignored her, staring fixedly at the room's back wall.

"Dinner will be served shortly." And he turned on his heel and left.

They fell into step one by one. Katara huffed her hair out of her face as they went. Fire Nation people were impossible.

It was the same room, the same vastness, the same ghastly painting on the opposite wall – Katara spared it only a glance before she looked fixedly away – but the table had been replaced. Where the mammoth table had stood the night before, there was now a smaller arrangement of carved wood. As Katara drew closer, she saw dragons entwined about the table's clawed legs. They spat fire and chased one another's tails as they rose to support the table top itself. So fine was the detail of the work, that it took Katara moment to realise there were people already seated.

She nearly fell into her cushion and looked up. Ozai sat almost directly opposite her. Toph had flopped down into the cushion next to him and immediately started up a conversation.

"So Loser Lord, how about that bonsai farming?"

Katara's eyes widened as Ozai beared his grinding teeth in an expression she could only guess was meant to be an imitation of an ingratiating smile.

"I do not farm bonsais." He growled.

"Huh," Toph continued, nonplussed by his response. Her hands, while exploring the table setting before her, had found the dish of ornamental cherries in its centre. She dragged them toward her and tossed one in her mouth, "Picked you for one. Figured you'd need a hobby what with your forced retirement and all."

"I am not retired. I am-,"

At that moment, Azula entered the room. Katara followed Ozai's lead to the letter; the bow she gave was every bit as reluctant. She sat up quickly.

Toph didn't seem to have noticed, or simply didn't care, "Oh that's right! The Phoenix King. Hey, if you're king of the whole world but you're not actually welcome in all parts, does that mean you're banished? You know, like Zuko?" She paused and, almost as though Toph had known she would, Azula laughed as she folded herself onto her raised dais.

"Your disrespect grows wearisome, earth-,"

"Do not indulge her so, Father," Azula chimed as she plucked cherries, dish and all from in front of Toph, "Your temper only encourages her."

"I am no exile and Zuko-,"

"Is less than a spider fly. Anyone of great importance knows this. I do not see why you persist in playing the child's game."

Katara shifted in her seat, her elbow knocking against the person sitting to her left. Katara turned, "Oh I'm sorr-,"

"Good evening, Katara of the Southern Water Tribe. Do not worry. Your clumsiness is forgiven." The words came between dry lips. The voice seemed almost to croak. The eyes were hooded and sunken and lined with experience. But they were bright and Katara knew instantly that they missed little. It was Li.

"Uh… Good evening." Katara didn't realise she was leaning back until she bumped Aang's shoulder.

"So for you to really be an exile, Aang'd probably have to toss you into space then?" Toph's voice floated across the table.

Katara stifled a groan.

"So where are the rest of the guests tonight?" Aang was asking as the first course was set down in front of Katara. It looked like a thick green curry. It smelled like a thick green curry. She lifted a tiny morsel with her chopsticks and placed it on her tongue.

It was a thick green curry. And it burned.

As Katara tried to stifle her coughs and disguise her wild grab for the nearest glass of water, Azula kept on talking, "A formal feast is necessary to receive the Avatar and foreign dignitaries however given our current economic situation and the increased pressures of ensuring our national security, constant feasting would be a frivolous and unjustifiable expenditure."

Katara did not miss the look Azula cast her as she continued to cough, or the amusement in the other girl's voice.

"Oh…" Aang said. Katara wondered if he'd actually understood any of that and glanced sideways at him. He did seem to be digesting it, but slowly. Most of the people they had had to deal with in mediating disputes had been plain spoken. Chief Arnook, King Kuei and her father had always made sure to leave out the political jargon when talking to Aang. But she could never imagine Azula saying simply 'we can't afford to feast our nobles because we're spending a lot more money on weapons.'

Come to think of it, she had to wonder what the morning's meeting had been like for Aang with all those Fire Nation nobles not saying what they really meant. Maybe she should have insisted on going-,

No.

Chief Arnook's and King Kuei's indulgence had probably put off Aang's learning to deal with politics as it was. With luck, he'd live to see the next king and the next chief and they wouldn't be personal friends with whom he'd fought a war. He'd have to learn to deal with political games and political talk and she couldn't always be there to explain. Now was the perfect time to start, even if it wasn't amongst the best company. But he'd survived a conversation with Koh the face stealer. He could survive the minefield that was Fire Nation diplomacy. And besides, they'd all be there to back him up if things went bad.

"Katara?"

"Huh?" The curry had been removed. It had been replaced by some kind of poultry dish in an angry red sauce. Katara glanced first at this and then Sokka, who was scrutinising her.

"I was just talking about the play we saw at Ember Island and how accurate they were about you-,"

"They were not!"

Sokka grinned.

"Oh yeah!" Toph piped up, "I mean the rest of us were way off. But they got Loser Lord right too! Showed up at the last minute, full of hot air, threw some fire round. Shame they got the part about winning wrong, huh Loser Lord?"

There was a slam. All the crockery rattled in its serving dishes. For a moment it seemed as if the whole room shook. A shadow towered over the table and Katara's gaze followed it from table edge, up and up and up to Ozai's livid face.

"You will address me as Prince Ozai or know the consequences!"

Toph, the only occupant of the table whose gaze had not been drawn to Ozai, quirked her head to the side and grinned, "What're you gonna do? Cry?"

Ozai balled his fists and hissed. For one terrifying instant, Katara thought she saw smoke curl from between his teeth. She drew back, a warning on the tip of her tongue and her hands already reaching for the nearest liquid substances. But it was just a trick of the light.

"Calm yourself Father,' Azula said from her dais. She seemed unmoved by the display. A piece of the poultry dish was poised on her chopsticks and as Katara watched, she bit into it, chewed and swallowed before continuing, "remember to whom you speak. This is the emissary for the Earth Kingdom, with whom we hope to have very close future relations."

Ozai's fiery gaze turned upon Azula for a split second. The amusement that had still adorned Azula's face vanished. Ozai stared. And then he relaxed. With an obvious effort, the tension left his body. Katara thought she actually saw him roll his shoulders once. He turned back to Toph.

"My apologies. You will excuse me." He swept from the room without another look at any of them.

Servers entered the room and too late Katara realised she had not touched her dish. It was whisked from in front of her and replaced with what looked like tiny slimy dumplings encased in cabbage leaves.

"Well that was rude." Toph broke the silence. She picked up one of the dumplings and ate it without incident.

Katara tried to follow Toph's example and placed a whole dumpling on her tongue rather than nibbling at its edge the way she was tempted to do. Immediately the texture and taste assaulted her senses. It felt as though someone had set fire to her mouth and, as she exhaled, the fire spread up her nose. She could feel a sneeze coming on, but worst was when she tried to swallow. The food slipped and slid down her throat leaving a brilliant trail in its wake. Never, on all her trips to the Fire Nation, had she tasted anything so spiced. It was as though the sun had risen inside her chest and thoroughly burnt her insides.

"Personally I don't see why you keep him around." Toph was saying.

"Toph…" Katara tried to wheeze an admonition but it barely escaped her lips. The food had reached her stomach. She could feel it sitting there as though in a single mouthful she had swallowed an entire meal.

Toph ignored her, "I mean he's the worst kind of parent, thinking he's always right and he knows what's best for you. But I guess being Fire Lord you can just send him away when he gets annoying."

The tension in Katara's chest had settled around her abdomen, the sneeze was still held captive somewhere between her nose and throat. And now she could feel something rising. The muscles of her lower abdomen seized. The sensation ran up her throat and she knew what was coming. She had to move.

She stood, "Please excuse me I'm not feeling well!" she choked out, and ran from the room.

Down darkened corridors past sconce after sconce after sconce she fled. She ran blind. Azula had kept them to parts of the palace unknown. They had been accompanied everywhere but when they managed to sneak off. In moments Katara no longer knew where she was and no longer did she care. Bile rose in her throat and only through sheer force of will did she manage to force it down again. Twice her throat burned now. Her gaze fixed on woven rug after woven rug that led her on down the strange corridors, until at last, her breathing left ragged by her continuous retching, she had to slow.

She threw out a hand and caught the wall, using it to guide her along. While it seemed that the immediacy of her nausea had faded, it still simmered away around her middle and she felt as though a hiccup was trapped half-formed in her throat.

Ahead of her, the corridor she was standing in spilled into another. It was this sight more than anything that made her realise her predicament. She was lost. But a moment later she was distracted. Framing the mouth of the corridor were two vases, one red and one blue. Their glaze glittered as it reflected the light of the sconces, but the reflection was not enough to hide the intricate paintings of dragons on their sides.

Katara spared the delicate paintings only a glance before she raced for the left vase.

She had only a moment to wonder how old and priceless this particular vessel was before she surrendered her meal to it. By the time she was done, she no longer cared.

Vile as her mouth now tasted and her throat now felt, the plaguing nausea that that dish had brought on had abated, and she felt a lot better. In fact, as she straightened a little and looked at her surroundings properly for the first time since she had left the dining room, Katara realised that she was actually feeling quite good.

She was alone.

Really alone. Peeking out of the corridor mouth, she looked left and right. There was no servant, no courtier, no guard. For the first time since their arrival in the Fire Nation, she was free.

Katara turned left. She couldn't say what made her hurry. Maybe it was the fact that this was a palace and no corridor could stay empty for long. Maybe it was the fact that the smell of her most recent exertions was bound to draw someone soon. Maybe it was that she had a limited amount of time before her absence was noted. She didn't care. She hurried.

Her course was random. Left, right, left, left, right, left, dead end, turn back. And just when she was beginning to wonder how she had happened upon the only portion of palace that was not routinely patrolled, Katara turned into a corridor and saw a guard turning into its other end.

She ducked back around the corner and flattened herself against the wall. Why was she hiding? Why didn't she want to get caught? She wasn't a fugitive. He could give her directions.

And that would be the end of her freedom.

So? In the first, it wasn't as though she was a prisoner and in the second, she would never leave her friends here without reason. The lower city probably _could_ use a visit from the Painted Lady, but then they would probably all guess it was her and from what she had seen so far, a foreigner's presence, even while administering charity, may not go over too well.

But then there was Zuko.

Zuko, alone in his cell and not eating, nursing injuries she hadn't seen and couldn't possibly begin to imagine. Zuko, moody and despairing and unwilling to open up to his visitors. Zuko, whose release they were going to attempt to negotiate the following morning.

She couldn't pass up this opportunity to see him.

She backed down the corridor from which she had come, quickly, quickly, quietly. She silently cursed the way her garments restricted the length of her stride and the whispering they made with every movement. She was too slow. The guard would hear her.

She reached another corner and turned without waiting to remember from which way she had come. She was passing a large tapestry of fire lilies, one she had thought looked familiar and that she may even have passed at some point during this palace stay, when she looked up and gasped. Advancing toward her from the end of this corridor, alternately lit and shadowed every moment as it passed by the wall sconces, was a giant walking vase.

Katara, her hands clapped over her mouth to stifle the sound she'd made, found herself fighting to restrain a giggle. Heavily shadowed by the large vase – the same vase she had visited earlier, she noted. Apparently it had been discovered and hurriedly scheduled for cleaning – was a set of floor-length, pale servant's robes.

Katara flattened herself against the wall. The servant would reach her first. The servant was carrying a large vase. If she stood still and stayed quiet in this, a shadowed portion of the corridor, perhaps the walking vase would pass her by and she could flee before the guard caught up with her.

She pressed herself back into the wall, her fingers digging into the large tapestry, as though in doing so she would somehow better disguise herself as part of the weave.

And then she fell through.

It took only a moment. With a huff, all the breath was knocked out of her and she was sitting on her backside in the dark. The tapestry was fluttering back into place in front of her and she was obscured from the corridor just as what little light that made its way through the weave was obscured by the passing servant's shadow.

Katara scrambled to her feet and turned around. The corridor she was standing in was completely bare of all decoration on both walls and floors. It was lit by naked candles at far greater separations than the more opulent corridors she had seen so far. The space was narrow, barely enough for two slim people to pass side by side.

Katara stared. Had she happened upon a secret passage way, or a servant's corridor?

Almost as soon as her mind framed the question, she realised that she didn't care. In either case, this was her way out of the palace unnoticed. She hurried on.

Within the hour, she stood outside Zuko's prison cell. She tried to slide the door open slowly, gingerly, as though somehow that would stop the squeaking of the hinges. The journey here had been uneventful after she finally found a way out of the palace via the kitchen hands' exit, largely because she'd kept stealth about her. She'd had to lie a little about inspecting Zuko's wounds just to get in. Luckily the guard had been eating a dinner of soup at the time. A small tug at the liquid had been all the convincing he needed.

The door squeaked. How the door squeaked! Katara cringed as the sound grated its way down her spine and reverberated down the corridor. And when there was a wide enough gap for her to slip into the room, he was already sitting up on the bed, peering at her.

"What?" He grunted.

"You know, for someone whose friends just came half way across the world to save him, you're not very welcoming." She said by way of answer. She glanced from side to side and spotted a small wooden stool in the corner. She pulled it roughly into the middle of the room and closed the stiff door before sitting in front of him.

He regarded her, "I didn't ask you to come for me."

"But you knew we would."

He gazed at her for a long while, the shadows around his eyes seeming to deepen in contrast to his ever-bright irises. But even they seemed dimmed somehow. They were as yellow as ever and yet some of the light seemed to have been leeched out of them.

He looked away, "No. I didn't."

"Zuko…" She trailed off, not know what to say, "What happened to you?"

"I already told you! I was overthrown!" He threw his arms up in the air, glaring at her. Then, as though that simple pronouncement had sapped him of energy, he flopped back onto his cot with a great huff of expelled breath.

"I can see that," she replied tartly, "that's not what I meant and you know it."

His only response was to roll so that his back was to her, his shoulders rigid.

"We thought you'd be ready to fight. We thought you'd be ready to take back what's yours. Instead you send us away! You're acting like you've already given up. You _never_ give up. _What happened?_" It was all she could do to stay seated.

He deflated, shoulders sagging. And when he spoke, he spoke to the wall.

"They – Azula – killed Mai," he swallowed audibly, "She killed her, in front of me."

Katara could not find words. She wanted to hug him. She wanted to tell him it wasn't his fault and that it would be ok and that no matter how much it hurt he could go on. But she could not find words.

"Oh _Zuko_…" it came from her in a sigh. It came from her in a sob. But he did not turn to face her.

Cloying silence suffocated the cell.

"Did you love her?" She breathed it. She didn't know why she whispered. There seemed no right way to ask that question.

"Yes!" his voice rang with defiance, banishing the thick air, but it seemed to wither as her stare bored into his back.

"No… I don't know! What does that have to do it?!" He rolled onto his back. A hand fisted in his hair and he pulled at the oily strands as he glared at the ceiling.

Katara said nothing.

"I used to love her. Before…" He trailed off.

"Before you were banished?"

"Yeah." He pushed himself up into a sitting position, leaning against the wall with his legs crossed and an elbow leant upon his knee. On the hemp-and-iron cot, it did not look like a comfortable position.

"When I got back, things were different. I was different. Everything had just changed! I still loved her but…"

"You weren't in love with her."

He glared up at her through his lashes. Reproach battled with assent in his gaze, "yes."

"What's that look for?" She retorted, "You don't think I know? Why do you think I broke up with Aang?"

He raised his head this time to look her full in the face. She recoiled, too late realising that this was not something she wanted to discuss with him right now.

"You broke up with the Avatar?"

"Not that it's any of your business, and actually it was more like a mutual-,"

"_You broke up with the Avatar."_

"That's what I just said!" Her hands fisted the fine silk of her skirt but she didn't care. He was angry, that was all. She made him talk about what was hurting him, and now she'd left herself vulnerable and he was taking his hurt out on her.

"I know. I'm sorry. It's just-," He half raised his hands, defensive.

"Just what? If you're allowed to date someone you don't love, why aren't I?" She spat. The sooner this conversation was over, the better.

"He's the Avatar."

"And I'm the daughter of the chief of the Southern Water Tribe. I'm not just some little peasant any more." Despite herself, she raised her chin a fraction.

"That's not what I meant! I meant… He worships you."

"Yeah, well, I'm not so sure that's a good thing with the world the way it is." She looked away, "And besides, worship isn't love."

"What're you talking about?"

She could hear the cot creaking as though he was shifting about, but she didn't look back at him. If she was honest with herself, she didn't _want_ to think about any of these things. Not now. Not yet. There was too much going on and she didn't know the answer to half the questions she was asking herself. She certainly wasn't ready to put anything into words, least of all to Zuko.

She sighed. He'd still be watching her. She knew if she looked back she'd face that hard, determined gaze.

"Things were getting missed," she began, "Every time he thought we'd finished something he'd want to go and ride koi-fish or moose-lions or track the lion-turtle when there were always more things to do. Like you-,"

"Me?"

Despite herself, she glared at him for interrupting, "Yes you. We should've been here-,"

Zuko gave her a sharp look.

"_He_ should have been here. He should've come when he heard there was trouble. He should have been here months before that but instead he just wanted to goof around like-… Like a kid! Rather than checking up on you-,"

"I don't need anyone to check up on me!"

"Right. Except for that there was a coup when Aang didn't."

"That wasn't his fault!" Zuko's cot rattled. The sound echoed round the room, leaving in its wake a hollow silence.

Katara stared, horrified at what she had just said, then swallowed and wet her lips.

"No. I know. I'm sorry. I didn't mean… Look, I shouldn't have to explain it to you. You already know what I'm talking about. I love Aang. He's fun and loving and courageous and he saved the world. But it just wasn't working out the way I thought it would."

Zuko nodded and then dropped his gaze again, his chin falling almost to his chest. Katara let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding. With that reminder of his departed girlfriend, the interrogation, it seemed, was over.

She peered at Zuko through the bars. He was slumped, staring at his knees. His brief moment of vigour at her having spurned one of his closest friends and most trusted advisors had faded once more into apathetic despair.

"Are you going to be okay?" she received a stiff nod by way of response, "I'm here if you want to talk about-," she was cut off by an equally stiff shake of his head.

Katara shifted. She reached out a hand and then let it fall on the bars of his cell. They sat in silence for a time. She began to wonder if it was her signal to leave. Then he spoke again.

"She was right."

"About what?"

"Everything!"

"Oh well that's helpful."

He answered with a glare. She fell silent again.

"We fought. A lot."

"Well that's normal. Aang and I used to fight all the ti-,"

He looked up and glared at her again, the old fire in his eyes. She shrank back and bit her lip. It had been too good a comparison.

"She couldn't understand why I'd done it. She thought… She thought I'd betrayed the Fire Nation by joining Aang."

"What?! That's ridiculous. Everyone knows you joined Aang to try and _save_ the Fir-,"

"You're not listening. She _wanted_ to understand. She had me explain it so many times. She told me that most of the nobles felt the same way she did. She warned me about all of this," he waved his hand at the high window but Katara knew he meant the coup, "She told me what I had to do to keep it from happening."

"And did you do it?"

"No!"

"Why not?"

"She told me I had to execute my Father and sister!"

It was as though his shout had left a ringing in her ears and a stone in her throat. She couldn't speak. She could only stare. For days they, all of them, had been talking about 'taking down' Ozai and Azula. They had even talked directly about killing them. It had all seemed so much simpler in the abstract. In a hot-blooded battle like an invasion or an Agni Kai, it was almost easy to imagine those two lives ending or at least ignore the fact that someone would have to do the deed. It wouldn't take more than the spur of a moment.

But here and now in the cooling darkness of Zuko's prison cell, Katara found herself suddenly reminded that the two people they had been talking about _were_ people. They were a father and a sister, a brother and a niece. To even contemplate their son, brother and monarch putting them to death left Katara feeling as though iced water had been poured down her back.

"Oh…" It took her a moment to realise the sound had escaped her lips, "How could she even _say_ that?"

He glanced up at her again, "She was right."

"No. Nobody could expect you to. They're your family, for better or worse. They're your family. It's what makes you better than them, that you couldn't."

"You think so?" He grunted, "I think it just makes them right. I'm weak. I couldn't do what was necessary. And now they've won. And she's dead. And it's my-,"

"Don't you dare!" She was on her feet in an instant.

He stared up at her and in a flash she was reminded of that moment when he had knelt before her in the catacombs of Ba Sing Se. Now, as then, he was staring up at her in bewilderment.

"It's not your fault! It's not anyone's fault but Azula's and Ozai's. I understand you're upset. I know; you're mourning her and that's good and you need to. But you can't blame yourself, Zuko. You can't let this drag you down. We need you. We're not going to get through this without you. And besides, it wasn't your fault."

He looked down, refusing to meet her gaze. She waited, but after a moment, he turned aside.

"Fine!" she yelled. "Mope by yourself then. We'll get you out of here on our _own!_" She rose and didn't bother moving the stool back to its place by the wall. She tried to slam the door but the rusting hinges screeched in protest. With a cry of frustration, she stormed from the cell.

___________

The next morning, as Katara stood before the curtained doorway that hid the Fire Lord's audience chamber, her thoughts still dwelt on Zuko. The guard who had come for them that morning had summoned only Aang, but they had insisted upon accompanying him. They were going to negotiate Zuko's release. Would he even appreciate it?

With that thought weighing on her mind, Katara entered the chamber with her friends. It was not at all as Aang had described. There was no table. There were no councillors. There was only Ozai, kneeling before the wall of flames that Katara guessed Azula was hiding behind.

Katara cast a sideways look at Aang. He too was looking around in bewilderment.

"Where is everyone?" His voice sounded so hollow in the huge, empty space.

"Customarily those answering a royal summons bow before addressing the Fire Lord." Ozai intoned from where he knelt. Aang looked back at Katara. She shrugged. But Sokka was already hurrying forward to kneel in line with Ozai, though thankfully a short distance away. Toph followed suit. Katara pursed her lips. This was not a good idea. But Aang was already following the pair of them and she had no choice but to do the same.

"Where is everyone?" Aang asked again.

"You have been summoned so that your pleas for mercy on behalf of Zuko, convicted of high treason, might be heard." Azula voice floated from behind the flames. Katara peered through them, trying to catch a glimpse of the other girl's face.

"The opinions of my council have already been heard. Whether or not Zuko receives mercy depends now upon you." Azula finished.

Silence rang around the room. And then,

"Alright, what do you want?" Toph said.

"Toph…" Katara warned, but Toph threw out an arm and cut her off.

"No Katara. This's what they've been after the whole time. They didn't keep Zuko alive to lure us into a trap. They kept him alive 'cause they know they can get stuff from us if they let us have him."

"We won't give you anything!" Aang said, but Katara was still looking at Toph. She was rolling her eyes.

"The only things you've got to give are yourself and a bunch of old temples, Twinkletoes. Let the money handle this one," She pointed at the throne, "Let's deal."

"Wait!" Sokka said, "First, Aang and Iroh are off the table. We're not trading people for people-,"

"I can't believe you're talking about trading for someone's life!" Katara's voice sounded far higher than she had intended it to but she didn't care, "You can't just-!"

"Hey, we all wanted a solution without violence, and this is it," Sokka said, "Just work with it, Katara." He pinned her with his eyes. They were not laughing, not even smiling the way they almost always were. But neither were they narrowed with the anger that overtook him in the heat of battle. His brows were set and determined and he was still staring at her. And behind it all was that manic light that always seemed to enter his expression whenever he'd hit upon a truly brilliant – and truly crazy – idea. Sokka had a plan.

"You wound me," Azula was saying, "Misguided though he is, Zuko is my only brother. I love him dearly and would like nothing better than show him the same mercy he showed me. But I can't just let him go." Katara could hear the sick grin she just knew was twisting the other girl's features. The sweet lilt to her voice almost had Katara gagging.

"He has already overthrown me once, and with your help, no less. What would he do, with the Fire Nation divided in loyalties the way it is? No." The flames dropped away from in front of her and now Katara could see that perverse smile, those cruel eyes.

"I do not wish to barter with my brother's freedom. I simply require a little security, a token of good faith, if you will. After all, I cannot release Zuko if his or others' intentions are anything less than honourable."

"But if all you wanted to do was negotiate Zuko's release, why did you ask for my support yesterday?" Aang's own mouth was twisted half-way between a scowl and a pout and his brows were furrowed.

Azula laughed, "Am I not allowed to hope that the Avatar would for once make the right choice?"

Unable to restrain herself, Katara leant sideways and whispered in Aang's ear, "She was just playing with you."

Toph snorted, "Whatever. Can we do this already?"

"Of course. Prince Ozai has an arrangement we find to be most equitable."

At the sound of his name, Ozai rose and unrolled a scroll. He was smirking all over his vile face. The flames reflected in his eyes looked thoroughly creepy. Katara shivered but refused to look away as he began to read.

"In exchange for the release of the traitor Prince Zuko into exile in the Earth Kingdom: all Earth Kingdom territories and contained resources and revenues west of and including New Ozai will be returned to the Fire Nation; Fire Nation restoration crews in other nations will be released from the obligations agreed to under Zuko's rule and all citizens returned to the Fire Nation; Payment of monetary and material peace reparations agreed to by Zuko will cease immediately; Half of the reparations already paid, or materials deemed of equivalent value, will be returned to the Fire Nation over the next five year period; The Avatar will revoke Zuko's bending ability in order to neutralise him as a threat to the crown and; The Avatar will restore the bending ability of Prince Ozai."

Katara sat agog. She was sure that if her eyes opened any wider, they would fall out of her head, and it did not take long for her hanging jaw to grow uncomfortable. She snapped her mouth shut so fast that her teeth clicked. Toph, however, had not missed a beat.

"Some land, tax and whatever else is in it, no more help fixing what you broke, no more war payments, a little payback, Hotman's bending gone and Loser Lord's back. Gotcha. I'm not that map-crazy though. Snoozles, what's west of Omashu?"

"What? Uh…"

"Toph! You can't just give away Earth Kingdom land!"

"Sure I can, Twinkletoes, I'm the emissary from the Earth Kingdom. If the Earth King didn't want me giving away land, he should have sent someone else."

"Toph! Those are people's homes!" Katara almost shouted.

"Yeah, and if you'd all just shut up and let our map guy talk, I could find out whose. Snoozles, is there anything I care about west of Omashu? Like Ba Sing Se or my parents' house?"

"Uh... No… Well there's Haru's village and Kyoshi Island-,"

"Oh great! So nothing I care about then!"

"Toph!" For the first time, Sokka looked worried. Katara narrowed her eyes and looked between him and Toph. The blind girl sat facing the flames but despite her apparent lack of attention, Sokka was still fixing her with a pleading stare.

"Ugh. Fine," She raised her voice and said, "You can have everything west of and including Omashu except Kyoshi Island."

"Agreed." Ozai said, but before he had even got the word out, Toph had thrust a hand out toward his face. Katara rocked back on her heels. She had been on the receiving end of that palm too many times for it to surprise her. But this was _Ozai_ they were talking about, and at that moment Katara felt almost as taken aback as Ozai looked.

"If it's all the same to you, Loser," Toph had not stopped, "I'd rather hear it from the _actual_ Fire Lord."

"Agreed." Azula said even as Ozai's lips curled back in a snarl, ready to respond.

"So the money stuff," Toph trawled on, unawares, "Stop paying whatever you want. I'm pretty sure you've already done it anyway. And we'll give you a quarter back."

"The Water Tribe will match whatever the Earth Kingdom offers." Sokka said quickly. His eyes had remained fixed on Toph.

"Sokka! You can't just-!" At the mention of her tribe, Katara was unable to keep silence any more, but Sokka cut her off with a glare.

"Katara, you didn't really expect to go off flitting round the world for two years then come back and be allowed to speak for our whole tribe, did you? Just let me handle this."

Katara's eyes widened. To her horror, she felt tears prickling at their corners as her mouth trembled into a frown. For an instant, she thought she saw Sokka's gaze soften, but then it hardened once more into that determined, manic look. She blinked furiously to dispel her tears and glared at him.

"Fine! Go ahead and betray our Tribe! If you think Dad'll ever agree to this you're-,"

"Shut up, Sugar Queen."

Katara found herself once again too stunned to speak, her eyes and mouth wide open. But Toph had already moved on.

"A quarter, no more."

"This is not a negotiation." Ozai replied.

"Loser Lord, you bring about as much to this deal as Aang, so unless you're offering to be my very own pet poodle-monkey in exchange for Zuko's release, you should probably just let the important people talk." For the second time in half an hour, Ozai's expression mirrored Katara's. For a moment he seemed too stunned by Toph's response to even be angry, and by the time dark rage had rolled over his features, Toph had resumed talking.

"You're forgetting most of this stuff's gonna be paid to you in seal blubber and coal, and we all know how badly you guys need stuff that'll burn. A quarter, take it or leave it."

"Two fifths." Azula replied coolly.

"A third."

"Agreed."

"Sweet. That just leaves the Water Tribe stuff."

"Yeah, we'll send them home," Sokka waved a hand as though it were nothing. Katara opened her mouth, but he cut her off, "Don't say anything Katara. You can't tell me you weren't worried when you saw that Fire Nation ship in our harbour. We're better off on our own."

"None of this matters!" Aang burst out, "We're not making this deal. You guys are forgetting; I'm the only one who can manipulate bending. I won't take Zuko's bending away and I won't give Ozai's back. I won't let the Fire Nation take over half the Earth Kingdom and I won't hear any more of this!" He was on his feet, a ripple of air the only hint as to how he had got there so fast. Katara stared up at him. There were only a few times in her life when she could remember the seeing this kind of taut fury on that face. His grey eyes were hard and cold under the light of the flames and without realising it, he had fallen into a bending stance, his fists clenched where he would have held his staff, had he had it.

"Aang-," Sokka started, but Aang rounded on him and Sokka shrank back.

"No, Sokka! You can't do this! The deal's off! This meeting is over!" He whirled. Katara half-raised an arm as wind whipped at her face and hair. By the time she looked back, Aang was already at the door, the curtains billowing out of his way. She half-rose, ready to run after him, to console him, but Sokka grabbed her arm. She glared down at him, but immediately halted and sunk back to the floor. His eyes were beseeching. She didn't understand his and Toph's plan. She had no idea what he was doing, but he needed her to stay.

"Ignore Aang," Sokka was already saying. "Zuko's his best friend. He'll do it. He'll whine and make some big speech and then do whatever his girlfriend tells him to." He jerked his thumb at Katara. Katara, for her part, opened her mouth to protest, but was silenced by a nudge in the arm from Toph.

"So, the bending." Sokka said.

"I've got no problem with Hotman's bending being taken away," Toph said, "I told him I'd pay him back for burning my feet. Well here it comes."

Azula chuckled. Ozai did not. Toph was smirking.

"But no way is Loser Lord getting his bending back."

"It's a deal-breaker." Ozai said.

"You know, I really don't think it is," Sokka replied, "Toph's right, Mr Prince Ozai sir. Seeing as you don't have you're bending, you've got no power or anything really to offer this arrangement. I don't see why you should get anything out of it."

With a flash of realisation, Katara's gaze swung round to focus on Azula. A quick glance at Toph and Katara saw that her head was half-cocked with her ear facing Azula too, one of her hands spread flat on the floor.

Azula, for her part, looked inscrutable. But Katara watched and waited.

"Besides," Sokka was still talking, "You said you wanted security. Where's our security if you get your bending back? What's to stop you taking over everything all over again? And then there's the fact that I'm not even sure if Aang knows how to give bending back again. I mean, he could probably learn if he tried hard enough, but then what's to stop him giving Zuko his bending back after a while as well? Seems to me like we're all better off if he just never learns how."

Azula was staring down her nose at Sokka, "You get ahead of yourself. I am still not convinced of the Avatar's willingness to fulfil his part in the deal."

"Well look at it this way," Toph said, "We're agreed on everything else. If we start putting our end in motion, you don't have to hold up your end and release Zuko til Aang's done his thing and Zuko's bending's gone. Deal?"

"And what of _my_ bending you insolent whe-!"

"Shut up, Loser Lord."

"Yes, do be quiet Father."

"So we get Zuko without his bending, you get a lot of land, coal and seal blubber, and everyone but Ozai goes home happy! Whaddaya say?" Sokka grinned.

"Agreed." Azula rose. After a moment, Toph and Sokka followed suit. Katara scrambled after them as all three began to bow.

"Azula, you will not!" Ozai thundered. He too had climbed to his feet but showed no sign of any bow of assent. He was advancing on the throne. But Azula, quick as a snake, had whipped around to face him and was already pacing down the steps.

"You know it occurs to me, Father, that Sokka had a point." A small hand gripped Katara's. Glancing down, she saw that Toph was trying to draw her back, away from the Fire Nation royals.

Sokka's hand fell on her shoulder, "Now we sit back and watch." He whispered.

"As long as you have no bending, you have no claim to power," Azula sounded as though at any moment, she would spit acid, "And the return of your bending does nothing to benefit me or resolve the Fire Nation's current crisis. How strange then, that my council recommended it be added to the terms of the agreement at all."

"Azula, remember to whom you speak," far from sounding intimidated by Azula's tone, Ozai's head was held high and his entire face seemed transported, as though chiselled out of marble, "I instructed you in the ways of bending. I taught you all you needed to know to one day rule this Nation. I named you, the second-born, my successor. I freed you from your prison and helped win you your throne. I am you Lord and Father, deserving of your respect, and now I require-."

"No!" Azula's arms began to whirl. The flames before the throne petered and died. Sparks leapt and sizzled in great sweeping arcs, their light wavering over the room so that tableau after tableau flickered in sharp black-and-white relief before Katara's eyes: Azula crouched ready to strike; Ozai arm's half raised to defend; Ozai, his chiselled face riddled with shocked realisation; Ozai turning, an arm half raised, shielding himself as he fled.

"I am _your_ Lord!" Azula's voice rang through the hall, "What you are, _Father_, is disloyal!" Brilliance engulfed the room. Thunder exploded off the walls. Katara was lost as the throne room seemed to vanish before her very eyes. For a moment she clung to the warm bodies of her friends either side of her. She didn't know what was happening. She could not see or hear. She had to know what was happening.

Then her ears were ringing and her eyes watering as and a thousand blue flames were spinning, spinning back into focus as the fire before the throne sprang to life. It spilled its familiar blue light over the room, laying bare what had just taken place

Once-Fire-Lord Ozai lay crumpled on the floor.

Katara stared.

Ozai was dead.

She could hardly believe it.

Ozai was dead.

"It occurs to me." Azula was speaking.

Ozai was dead.

"That if disloyalty has entered the ranks of my council, I have no reason to trust the terms they recommended."

Someone shoved past Katara. It was Sokka, "Wait-!"

"That means that our deal is off. GUARDS!" Azula yelled.

Sokka turned back to Katara and Toph. Katara had expected to see horror. She had expected to see panic. After all, hadn't everything just gone horribly wrong? But no, the look on Sokka's face could charitably be described as concern, though he was gripping his chin between thumb and forefinger and worrying his lower lip in the way he was want to do while thinking.

"What now, genius?" Toph hissed.

"I'm working on it!" He hissed back.

"I hate to say I told you so. But I told you so." Toph muttered.

Katara seemed to be the only one who had noticed that three guards had entered the room.

"You, take them back to their rooms and have someone see that they stay there. You! Have someone come to clean up this mess, and you," Azula paused and threw them a glittering smile that only Katara saw, "Have arrangements made for dear Zuzu's execution. Sundown in the plaza will do nicely, I think."

"No!" Katara's shout at last seemed to alert Toph and Sokka to the fact that something was going on. But a guard was already bearing down upon them.

"You are to be escorted to your rooms. Follow me." He turned on his heel.

Katara fell into a bending stance. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Toph do the same.

Azula laughed that high, tinkling laugh, "Do not be absurd. Two of you are unarmed and before the third could lay a hand upon me, there would be so many guards in this room that you would never make it out alive."

"C'mon." Sokka began following their assigned guard. After a moment, Katara and Toph followed.

"So what now?" Toph muttered as they exited the audience chamber.

"We find Aang," Sokka replied, "We let him know what's happened. We-,"

Katara fell in behind the two of them as they continued their muttered strategies. Her head felt as though it were swimming. Ozai was dead. Their plan – Sokka's and Toph's plan – had succeeded, but too well. Ozai was dead. Zuko's father was dead. Azula had killed him just like that and now… Now Zuko was scheduled to be executed at sundown.

They had to get Zuko out of here. There was no way around it. They would have to stage a break-out, before sundown, in broad daylight, now.

A strange sense of déjà vu permeated Katara's still-reeling mind. Her gaze fixed upon a tapestry of fire lilies unfortunately placed exactly in the middle of two sconces so that the delicate beauty of the needlework was largely shrouded in shadow.

She had fallen a little behind the others as they plotted and planned. Now she stopped dead, indecision further clouding her mind and holding her tongue. Biting her lip, she opened her mouth to call. Here and now was their opportunity. They had to go. But if she called the guard would hear. If she called they'd lose their chance.

It took only a split second to make her decision. Katara glanced at the guard, but as always he was resolutely facing front and simply trusting that they would follow. She glanced at the tapestry, still and silent. Then Katara darted sideways into the rough hallways beyond the tapestry. The fabric barrier settled back into place behind her.

"Hey-…" She heard Toph's voice out in the corridor. She had noticed.

"What?" Sokka said.

"Nothing." Toph answered.

"Oh!" Sokka exclaimed, "Uh… Oh! I am so glad that the three of us got out of that alive, aren't you Toph?"

"Oh yes!" Toph's reply was far too loud, "All three of us. That was a close one."

Katara stifled a snort. For people who had just orchestrated the downfall of the most evil man in the world, the pair of them had no subtlety.

But their voices were fading fast and she didn't know how much time she would have. Would the guard even notice that one of his charges had gone missing? How fast would they find Aang and think to look for her? Would she be able to rescue Zuko _and_ get back into the palace?

Katara turned on her heel and began wending her way through the servant's corridors, her mind abuzz.

No. As soon as she and Zuko left the prison tower, the alarm would be sounded. They'd have to make a run for it and trust that the others would catch up to them later on. Sokka and Toph had guessed what she was up to. They'd find Aang and make sure everyone got out of here safely.

She couldn't take Appa or the ship. Her friends and her tribesmen would need both. She and Zuko would have to make their escape on foot. If she headed for somewhere familiar, somewhere they had been before, surely the others would think to look there, or else she and Zuko could find passage to the Earth Kingdom… Somehow.

Vague memories of the route she had taken the previous night guided her steps. It was probably not the most direct route, and several times she stopped at crossways which may take her more directly to her destination. However she always decided in favour of familiarity. She couldn't afford to get lost right now.

What if they took condemned prisoners down to the plaza early? She could get into the prison fairly easily and once she had Zuko at her back, breaking out again shouldn't be too hard. All they had to do was make it to the crater wall. The scrub that grew on the volcano's side would give them plenty of cover so long as they stayed off the path, and once they reached the lower city, they could lose themselves in the crowd.

But she wouldn't have a hope of getting into the plaza tower.

Worry leant wings to her feet. In minutes, she had reached the kitchens and was racing through the steam and scents of jasmine rice and curry. Lunch was being prepared already. Belatedly Katara remembered that she had skipped breakfast in favour of the failed council and her stomach growled. She sped up and darted out the kitchen exit into the small yard that received fresh goods from market.

It had been empty the night before. Now it was swarmed with people, carts and livestock. The smell of raw vegetables, animals and sweat permeated the thick midday air, a stark contrast to the scents of the kitchen. Animals bleated and people shouted. Carts rumbled and komodo rhinos moaned. And everywhere was movement.

Katara paused only a moment to get her bearings before beginning to thread her way between the carts going to and fro and the people hurrying this way and that with arms laden. She hardly noticed any of them. Her eyes were fixed on the exit. And so she was no more than half-way across the yard when she spotted her first obstacle. The gate, unguarded by night, was now manned by two soldiers who were watching the carts roll through with bored expressions on their face.

Katara looked desperately from side to side as though hoping there would be a conveniently-placed tree or fountain near the walls on either side of the gate so that she could engineer her own escape. Instead, her face lit up when she hit upon an even better idea.

A dumpy little elderly woman had just finished unloading crates of milk from a cart and was now having trouble securing the bolt that held the back of the cart in place. Katara hurried over.

"Here, let me help you with that." She said, and brushing the woman's hands aside, she thumped the bolt and rammed it home. The woman smiled up at her for a moment but as soon as she met Katara's gaze, she frowned and turned away, hurrying to the driver's seat of her cart and urging her komodo rhino into a walk. Katara scowled after her. That had been very rude.

Almost too late, she remembered her plan. She hurried after the cart and caught up with it just as it was reaching the gate. Careful to stay just behind the driver's seat so that the unfriendly woman would not spot her, she laid a hand upon the side of the cart and walked sedately through the gate, smiling sweetly at the guards as though she went by this way every day. They didn't even blink.

Once they had crossed the stretch of clear pavement that ringed the palace, she released the cart and withdrew into the shadow of a mansion's high wall. She watched the cart amble on down the street before remembering she was on a time limit. Once again, the city rang of quiet desolation. While traffic from the palace frequented this street, the sounds of the carts and people seemed to be shut in as though no-one existed outside this space.

Katara was left to wander down nearly-deserted street after nearly-deserted street. She passed the odd palanquin, but they were few and far between. Only servants and soldiers were out on foot. The first time she saw a patrol of soldiers, she cursed her decision to forego Fire Nation attire that day in favour of her more nationalistic Water Tribe garb. She stood out like a sore thumb. Immediately she busied herself with weeding one of the immaculately kept gardens that adorned the houses. The soldiers passed her by without incident.

It seemed to take her an age to reach the prison tower. Surely it had been an hour and a half already. She had had to stop so many times for soldiers. It couldn't have taken Azula's guards more than ten minutes to get here. What if Zuko was already gone?

Hiding her fears behind a terse face, she stalked up to the guard at the gate.

"Here to inspect the prisoners." She repeated the line from the previous night. The guard waved her through.

Her repeat performance did not work at the door.

"Your healing's not going to do much good now, is it? He's scheduled to be executed." The warden gave her a nasty look. Unfortunately for him, he had just filled a tin cup from the water barrel that stood at the entry's guard post. Katara flicked her hand, sending violent ripples through the water in the cup.

"Look," She put her hands on her hips and scowled up at him, even as his attention was on his now-settling cup, "Azula told me to make sure he doesn't die before she wants him to, so that's what I'm going to do. If you've got a problem with that you should take it up with her."

He dropped the cup back into the barrel and strolled forward to loom over her, "That's Fire Lord Azula, Miss."

Katara held her ground. It took maybe thirty seconds for the warden cave. Katara wasn't sure if it was because she had intimidated him or simply because he had realised that she would not be intimidated and had grown bored. He did not seem to be a particularly diligent specimen.

"He's still here… For now." He said. As he turned away, he threw another nasty sneer at her over his shoulder. Katara poked her tongue out at his retreating back and then all but ran down the corridor, deeper into the prison. She took the stairs two at a time, one flight then two then three. By the time she reached Zuko's cell on the highest level of the prison tower, she was huffing and sweating.

As always, the door squeaked as she opened it. Katara didn't care. She forced it open and then darted in side. She jammed it shut behind her and leant against it, trying to breathe deeply to still her wildly beating heart. She had made it. He was still here. Now if they could both just get out of here alive, if the others found Aang and got out of here on time, everything might be ok.

"What-?" He was sitting up, staring at her. His breakfast tray was untouched on the floor. Katara scowled at it.

"I'm getting you out of here."

"_What!?_" He rose, unfolding himself from the bed, "They'll know it was you. The Avatar, your Tribe…"

"Azula's ordered your execution at sundown. Zuko," She hesitated, not knowing how to say the next part but knowing for certain that if she did not tell him in this moment she may never be able to, and she owed him more than that, "I'm sorry, your father's dead."

His eyes widened. His mouth worked silently for a moment before he managed to frame a word, "How?"

"Azula killed him for disloyalty or something. And now she's ordered your death too. Look, it's a long story and we don't have much time."

He stared at her. "But you don't even have any water! How're you going to break me out-?"

"Oh shut up. I'm a master waterbender in the most humid nation in the world," Katara whirled. She flung out her right arm as her consciousness expanded. Water condensed in the wake of her hand and as she turned the full circle, it gathered about her fingers in five liquid claws, "You think I can't find water?"

He grunted. Katara smirked her victory.

She slashed her hand down, water flying from it and slicing a ringing cut in the locking mechanism of Zuko's cage. The water cut again with the return slash. Up and down, back and forth, the cell soon rang with the sound of the sharp edge on metal. Just in time, Katara heard running footsteps outside the door.

She spun. Her water flew at the door's lock and froze there. Not a second later, there was a scraping and a swearing as someone tried to fit a key into the lock and found it jammed. Katara grinned and spun again, gathering more water about her fingers.

It took two minutes and twenty seven slices to break the lock of Zuko's cell. Zuko did not stand still. He did pace around and around the confines of his cage. When she took a moment to catch her breath, Katara reflected that this was the most movement she had seen out of him in her three visits. It had to be the adrenaline.

As soon as the door sprang loose Zuko was scrambling out. Katara turned, ready to melt the last of the ice from the lock on the door and greet the soldiers who were now hammering on its other side. But before she could do anything, a hand fell on her shoulder and spun her around.

"Not that way. We'll never make it."

"Then how to you propose we get out?" She spat. Mutely, he pointed at the high barred window. At this distance, it looked far too small and the bars far too thick. There were six of them, and the space between them was so narrow it seemed barely more than slits. Katara scowled.

"I guess you want me to cut those?" She muttered.

"Unless you'd rather face the fifty odd guards outside." Zuko retorted from where he was already climbing the outside of the cage. Katara gauged the height of the window and sighed. She probably _could_ reach it from the top of the cage and with Zuko looking as skinny as he did right now, they probably both _could_ fit through. But then they'd be sitting on a window sill three floors off the ground.

No. The prison tower was built into the crater wall. Zuko's cell was deep inside it, but apparently not so deep as to have no windows at all.

Katara directed her water into her mouth so that she could use both hands to climb the cage. It wasn't hard. She used the little door as a rung and from there she was able to haul herself up to the top. IN moments, she was standing next to Zuko, staring at the window.

She spat and immediately began slicing her water back and forth across the bars, all six at once.

She spared Zuko a glance. He was staring at her, his nose wrinkled

"That's disgusting." He said.

"Do you want to escape this way or not?" She retorted, and continued bending. He mumbled something in response but she had already turned her attention and her energy to the task at hand.

It took ninety three strokes to break through the bars, top and bottom. But all six of them broke at once. No sooner had her water sliced through, than Katara dropped it. Zuko, who had been looking fretfully from the hammering at the door to her handiwork, wasted no time in racing for the window. He grabbed the sill and hauled himself up. It took him only a little wriggling before his shoulders were through and then he was gone.

Katara stared.

He poked his head back through the window and glared down at her, "Come on! What are you waiting for?"

She still stared. How was he doing that?

There was a thump and a whine. Turning, Katara saw the door behind her starting to glow red in the centre. As the glow increased, the metal began to bow, and several more thumps only helped it along. They were going to break the door!

She raced for the window and jumped, seizing the sill. Her feet scrabbled for purchase on the wall and she heaved with her arms, hauling herself up. She threw one arm out the gap, her hand slapping against the outer wall, and pulled harder, managing to get a knee high enough to rest on the sill.

Then she was up, kneeling hunched over in the window. She was three floors up in the air, right next to the crater wall.

Frantically she looked around for Zuko. There he was. Like a canyon crawler, he hung onto a rock with one hand. His feet had found foot holds at least a foot apart. He had his head turned at what had to be an awkward angle as he looked back at her, "Come on!"

"Zuko… I don't think…" They were half way up the crater wall. They were half way to freedom. But all Katara could see was the ground a long way below and the long drop she just knew was coming. Men were swarming down there now. They were forming ranks, the further one sanding and the closer kneeling. Archers! They had been seen.

"Take my hand!" Zuko called.

"What?" She yelled, her gaze whipping back to him. His free hand was stretched out to her, but it was too far away. She'd never reach him.

He rolled his eyes, "Now, Katara!"

She teetered a moment longer, then leant out, her centre of gravity hanging over nothing but air. And then he was gripping her hand and he was guiding her to a hand hold and she was scrabbling against the crater wall and she was out and she was climbing and they were free.

___________

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AN: I had so much fun writing this chapter I cannot even begin to explain. I hope you had as much fun reading it.


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